Thursday, May 1, 2025

Review: Octopus Moon

 


For Pearl, things start to change when fifth grade begins. She's not has happy as she used to be. She's not as fun either. Things start to feel really hard - even getting out of bed in the morning. She pretends that everything is fine. But after her parents come back from a parent-teacher conference, they're forced to realize that everything is NOT fine. They take Pearl to a psychologist.

Dr. Jill helps Pearl understand that depression is a disease, an illness. She teaches Pearl coping skills. Pearl starts making progress and starts letting her friends back into her world. Every day isn't a good day and things are still hard, but she's making progress.
My Thoughts: This novel in verse is a powerful read. I love how Pearl did the work to understand depression. She had good days/moments and bad days/moments. Not everyone understanded what she's going through. At first, she had a hard time explaining it, but she found the words. I loved how depression wove itself into the book - how her Grandfather had bad days too. I loved it how in the beginning of the book, they didn't really talk about it, but by the end of the novel, the family recognized that he had depression too.  I loved the environmental moments of the book and how Pearl learned facts about sea creatures. 

Cover Thoughts: Cute
Source: My Library
Library Recommendations: A must have book for your school or public library's collection.

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