From the beloved author of Posted comes a powerful, poignant, and unexpected coming-of-age story about the rules in life that box us in—and the determination it takes to break out.
From the moment Kassandra Conner leaps from the diving board to the moment she hits the water, everything feels in control.
The rest of her life does not.
St. Lawrence Academy is supposed to have everything Kass's old school didn’t: safe hallways, small classes, and, most important, a chance to dive. But since transferring, all Kass can think about is what’s missing. Like her best friend, Aleah, who’s starting to pull away. Or the comfortable life so many of her classmates enjoy while Kass’s family’s restaurant struggles to stay afloat. Even the excitement she always felt in the pool, now that she’s on the same team as Amber Moore—the best diver in the state, who’s barely said two words to her all year.
Kass feels like she’s drowning, until she meets a boy named Miles. He’s a diver, too—someone who searches through dumpsters in the posh side of town for things he can salvage or sell. Miles knows what it’s like to be boxed in by things you can’t control, and as Kass spends more and more time with him, she starts to wonder what would happen if she tried to break out of her own box—and what she might lose by doing so.---from the publisher
336 pages 978-0063279360 Ages 8-12
Keywords: coming of age, being yourself, finding yourself, trusting yourself, diving, water sports, economic insecurity, friendship, new experiences, 8 year old, 9 year old, 10 year old, 11 year old, 12 year old
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“I went dumpster diving
Did it for a living
I did more than surviving
Yeah, we made a killing
Off of what I could find
I never met somebody like you
Never met somebody like you”
– Joshua Ray Walker (2021)
“Kass stumbled, almost tumbling over as she turned, backing away from the voice that came from the other end of the alley and the figure standing there, a bulging black garbage bag in his hands. The boy reached up and scratched behind his ear. Kass bent down and grabbed her Chucks, tucking them under her arm as if he might come and snatch them from her.
The boy looked different today. His hair was pasted to his forehead. His shirt was damp, despite the breeze. The trash bag he held was bigger around than him. Kass couldn’t see the contents through the plastic, but she could guess by their protruding shapes that they were cans and bottles. A camouflage backpack was slung around his shoulders. He wore the same cargo pants as before, but his shirt was now gray-and-maroon and said Harvard Crew. Funny. She wouldn’t have pegged him for the Ivys.
‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to,’ she said. She wasn’t sure why she was apologizing. She just felt like she’d been caught doing something she shouldn’t.
The boy shrugged. ‘They aren’t mine. And whoever’s they were gave up their claim when they tossed them.’ He set his bag on the ground beside him and brushed his hands off on his pants. Kass was afraid he was going to offer to shake hers, closing the ground between them, but instead he stuffed them in his pockets. ‘Gotta say, I’m a little surprised, though.’
‘That they fit?’
‘That you came back to get them,’ he said. You don’t really seem the type. No offense.’
In the back of her head, Kass heard her mother admonishing her. Why are you still standing here? Did you already forget what I said? ‘What type is that?’
‘The trash boot wearing type.’”
In the wake of the Pandemic, with the nation still struggling from the severe economic and educational setbacks it engendered, it is easier than ever for all of us to make assumptions—not necessarily correct ones—about the people with whom we may cross paths.
Thanks to her parents’ fears about the problems besetting the public school she had previously attended, thirteen-year-old Kassandra Connor has been forced to leave her long-time friends behind, and is now a student at St. Lawrence Catholic School. She is also a member of the school’s diving team. The only sort-of friends she has so far made are a couple of girls on the team. The whole school scene reeks of fakeness and plasticity—everyone pretending to be nice cuz Jesus is watching.
Meanwhile, things seem to be falling apart at home for Kass. Her parents’ restaurant, on the ground floor below their apartment, is seemingly on life support after barely surviving the Pandemic. Late at night, her parents are more or less at each other’s throats because of the financial strain (which, of course, is significantly amplified by her parents’ decision to pay the expensive tuition for Kass at St. Lawrence.)
This powerful coming-of-age story repeatedly challenges readers to shed our assumptions about the characters we meet, including Miles, the high school-aged, drop out, dumpster-diving teen who Kass meets. Their friendship begins randomly one day at a public bus stop when he pops up out of a nearby dumpster with an old-style TV and, soon thereafter, offers her an excellent-but-used pair of women’s boots–the boots she’s now decided to retrieve.
Another pivotal character we need to avoid making assumptions about is Amber, the beautiful, somewhat aloof star of the diving team.
So, was it really the boots, or is Kass obsessed and longing to repeatedly interact with this older boy/mysterious stranger? And what has inspired her to check out dumpster diving herself? The young man who “made her foot bounce uncontrollably and the hairs on her arms stand on end,”certainly leaves an impression!
In an era of rapidly diminishing natural resources and climate change, DIVE also prompts tween readers to consider the virtues of recycling and reuse. Is something inherently better because it is brand new? Or do we get sucked in by advertising and peer pressure? Can we be happy by making do with what’s available, rather than constantly consuming for the sake of the rush of having something new to flaunt? The layers of issues and emotions and heart make DIVE a top-notch read and a must-have for those serving 10-14 year olds.
Recommended by: Richie Partington, MLIS, California USA
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