Lauren Wolk, the highly acclaimed author of Wolf Hollow, another middle grade book, delights us with a story about self discovery, adventure and most important of all, family. In Beyond the Bright Sea, we follow the story of Crow, a little girl who happened to wash up on the shores of Cuttyhunk Island tied on a skiff, and was found and saved by Osh, a man who would take care of her as if she were his own daughter. As Crow grows up, and her curiosity in everything that surrounds her increases, she starts questioning not only her own origins, but also something that strikes her as very odd: the fact that Osh and her have lived secluded on their cottage built from materials of shipwrecks away from the other inhabitants of the island, except for Miss Maggie.

The story focuses on Crow’s struggle to come to terms with the fact that she does not know her own history, who her real parents are, or why she was sent away on a skiff all alone when she was only a baby, and her determination to change that. From there, the story unfolds in the journey that Crow sets herself upon in order to discover the truth about her past and about why everyone on the island seem to stay away from her every time they see her.

Lauren Wolk tackles in this novel hard issues like prejudice against otherness, discrimination by people, who in their own ignorance, let their ungrounded fears take hold of their minds instead of seeking out information about those who are not like them, or so they think. She creates a very wise contrast of how differently two kinds of people can react to when faced with the unknown. While the islanders turn their backs on Crow, even when they are not certain as to whether Crow is a leper or not, Osh and Miss Maggie take Crow into their lives as soon as she appears on the island, and have been their guardians and her adoptive family ever since.

One of the aspects I liked the most about this book was the message underlying the story. The concept of family isn’t a black and white matter in this book, as it shouldn’t be in real life either I think, because for Crow, in this case someone whose ancestors are unknown, Osh and Miss Maggie have been the paternal and maternal figures she has ever known. Even though she feels curious about her past and where she comes from, and she seeks out the truth about who her parents were, the entire point of the book is that the sense of belonging to a family does not always come from blood ties, but from those ties one can establish with other people whom one may not be related to by blood.

Lauren Wolk creates in Beyond the Bright Sea an atmospheric novel set in an isolated island, filled with adventure, mystery and characters that will warm your heart and will stay with you for a long while. I could not recommend this book enough to anyone that wants a fast-paced book about self discovery, with well-rounded characters, and a touch of adventure that will only leave you wanting for more.