This one was a little slow getting going, but if our middle schoolers push through it's a great story. I love when students can "see themselves" in book characters, so the fact that Sav, the main character has a hearing aid is a huge plus. Also, our kids are so much more aware of what's happening in the world, so I think they'll identify with Sav's cause.
The only reason I'm giving four stars instead of five is my worry that middle school students won't persevere to the good parts!

Beautiful artwork on the cover. The story covered a topic close to my heart, shark finning. The main character (Sav) starts out fearing the ocean but becomes an advocate for sharks and makes a difference with educating others and taking on adults to try to help save sharks.

This book was well written and amazing to teach young minds the proper ways to protest things that need to change. Sav is wonderful for learning that and making up for the trouble she caused and repairing relationships hurt along the way. The inclusivity of someone with cochlear implants making such a wave is so amazing. I cannot wait to have my boy read this when he gets older!

I’d been hearing a lot about this book in newsletters and email blasts for librarians and was excited to read it. The story follows Sav, a middle school student who is starting in a new school after her family moved. Sav embarks on the activist cause of saving sharks from cruel fishing techniques and takes on a local restaurant, which is the primary plot for the majority of the story. Along the way, she deals with making new friends, dealing with authority figures, and figuring out how to best pursue her goals.

I wanted to like this book a lot more than I did. I found that the first half dragged on, and I’m somewhat unsure if I want my middle grade students to get any ideas from Sav’s adventures.

Make A Little Wave by Kerry O'Malley Cerra
Release Date 9/30/24

Wow, just wow! I’m blown away by this book! Although it’s a middle-grade novel, the lessons and impact are truly for everyone. The story is packed with so much heart and meaning, making it enjoyable for readers of all ages. For a book aimed at kids, it left a deep impression on me. From moments of laughter to tears, I couldn’t put it down.

Though my daughter is only one right now, I’ll definitely be adding this to her collection for when she’s older. The story beautifully covers themes of activism, finding your voice, standing up for what’s right, and handling difficult situations with grace and respect. Watching Sav’s journey from a shy girl with passion to someone who learns and grows—both personally and as a friend—was truly inspiring. I couldn’t help but smile at how she found her "fins" (pun intended!).

This is a 5-star read for me, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a powerful, uplifting story!

I really loved this cute and adorable middle grades chapter book. I love the disability rep in this one. It is so great to allow children with similar disabilities to see that they aren’t alone and that just because they are different, that isn't a bad thing. It also allows able bodied children to see that children with these disabilities are just like them, and teaches empathy and caring.

I'm the author, so I'm a bit biased, but I do want to thank each of you who are reading and reviewing this book of my heart. Thank you, THANK YOU!

Sav's journey is messy, but so is activism, especially for young people still trying to figure the world out. : )

I loves this book! Sav was such a great , relatable protagonist. As a new girl in town, she manages to catch the eye of the handsome and well off class Romeo, Tanner, but unfortunately on their first somewhat date, Sav, a shy deaf young eighth grader who has never been popular , but is extremely passionate about animals, finds herself in a distressing situation when on the opening night of Tanner’s family’s new restaurant, she is served a bowl of shark fin soup. Her immediate reaction, much like my own, was to become extremely nauseous followed by a steadily growing outrage. Especially following her research into how shark fins are harvested. Having seen Jaws, like many, she has feared sharks and the ocean for years, but now enlightenment turns that anger into a driven fury where she will go into extreme means to defend the animals that once scared her. She doesn’t always go about it the right way, she often stumbles and struggles, especially when asked to speak up and use her own voice, and she strains relationships with her family and friends who don’t understand or fully appreciate the way the injustice of animals being tortured and killed burns in her and pushes a once model student to become a vigilante of sorts, but that’s what makes this book so wonderful. Savannah’s struggles to find the right way to move forward in spite of people making fun of her, ignoring her, or getting downright nasty with her, insisting her cause is pointless or small, is a beautiful thing because she proves that one person, a young person, can truely inspire others and make a difference. I love how readable and propulsive this is, how it fuels the blaze of conservationism, how it speaks on so many levels as a flawed and struggling protagonist who is so real, pushes the boundaries of her fears,her desires, her love of all things furry and finned, to become something she never dreamed and do things she never imagined.

E ARC provided by Netgalley

Savannah, or Sav, has recently moved from Orlando with her family to the smaller coastal town of Sandy Dune, Florida. She will miss her best friend Maizy, although the two plan to keep in touch. Sav, who was born with a hearing loss and had cochlear implants a few years ago when hearing aids stopped being effective, has some fear of the water. She doesn't care for the darkness, since she can't depend on hearing when she is in the water. She is also rather afraid of sharks and other marine creatures. She's met Tanner, who is going to be in her grade at school, on the beach, and when his family opens a new restaurant, he invites her. Sav also has a bit of social anxiety, and when she is nervous, has a tendency to forget words (e.g. calling "fishing" "ocean shopping"). She is uncomfortable in a skirt, nervous around all of the fancy people in the restaurant, and doesn't like sea food, so when she is served a bowl of soup with a chewy bit of meat in it, she is appalled to find out it is shark's fin. Predictably, she vomits all over the table. Luckily, Tanner's grandfather comes to her aid, gets her cleaned up, and helps her to summon her mother. He says that he is grateful that she saved HIM from having to eat the soup. Of course, videos of this hit social media; Tanner had previously posted a picture of him and Sav on the dock that he meant to be flattering. Sav is not only mortified, but horrified when she researches how the shark's fin soup is made. She tells Tanner about how the sharks are caught, definned, and left to die, and he said that he didn't know about it, but that his parents make a lot of money charging for the soup, which is considered a delicacy. Once school starts, Sav joins the marine environmental club, and makes friends with a girl who insists on being called Rav (her real name is Benedicta) and Belén. The two want to join Sav's fight against the people who are not necessarily violating local laws concerning the sharks, but are certainly not being ethical about gathering them, since they bring them from international waters. Sav also suspects that Tanner's father is heavily involved in their trade. To try to make her point, she and her friends protest outside the restaurant, but are told to move along. After that, Sav has Maizy send her live cockroaches in the mail, which her older sister Arbor notices. Sav, of course, says that it's something for a school project. Rav and Belén are supposed to help Sav release them in the restaurant, but are uncomfortable doing this. Even when they do, people don't make too much of a fuss. Still angry, Sav researches how to disable the boat that Tanner's family uses for expeditions, and is caught by Tanner and the local police filling the gas tank with water. This causes MUCH more damage than she expected, and she is forced to work off the thousand dollars in repairs helping Tanner clean the boat. Tanner is very understanding, but his parents (and Sav's) are not happy about Sav's actions. Seeing that her efforts that focused on Tanner's family weren't successful, she works with her teacher and the environmental club to stage a sit in at the office of a local government official who seems to be abetting the shark fin trade. Will Sav be able to educate her community and stop the horrible practice?
Strengths: Sav was a realistically enthusiastic and sometimes misguided middle school character. She wanted desperately to save the sharks, but is okay with sending the roaches to their death in the restaurant. I liked that Tanner and others called her on this. The fact that she was hearing impaired was just part of her character and not a focus of the story; this author's Hear Me is more concerned with the hearing loss, so it's great to see a character going about her life with this difference in ability. I learned a lot about cochlear implants, so that was interesting! The family's move was well depicted, with the older sister enjoying making new friends, but Sav worrying more, even though she does find Rav and Belén. The relationship with Tanner is very sweet; you can't go wrong putting a light romance into a middle grade book.
Weaknesses: As an adult, I was very concerned that Sav's activism led her to some truly destructive behavior, and that she never seemed to understand the damage that she caused. Young readers are unlikely to replicate her release of roaches or sabotage of a gas tank, and this will sit differently with different readers, but I didn't care for it very much, because I am personally risk averse!
What I really think: This will be a big hit with readers who are interested in marine biology and enjoyed Kelly's Song for a Whale, Berne's A Dolphin Named Star, Hapka's Heart of a Dolphin, Griffin's Manatee Summer, Dimopoulos's Turn the Tide, or Baskin's Consider the Octopus.

I’m so sorry, but I won’t be finishing this book 💔 I misread the page number as 36 rather than 360! I assumed it was a book meant for younger children and was going to read it with my daughter! So sorry that was my bad but it looks really cute 🫶

I would absolutely recommend this book to middle grade readers. It normalizes a deaf person operating in the world and discusses the importance of cochlear implants. The book also raises awareness of the treatment of animals, specifically sharks, and the unlawful harvesting of shark parts.

Character Development
Sav is well-developed. She is passionate and dedicated. She learns and grows throughout the story.
Thomas was also a dynamic character who learned and changed throughout the story.
Sav's friends could have been developed a bit more (will there be a sequel to dig deeper into their lives!?!). They seem interesting.

Plot & Setting
The purpose was clear. The setting was appropriate.

It seemed like a lot of rich, white people doing what they want to do without consequences. There is an entire backdrop of other individuals impacted by the events outlined in the story. Perhaps a little more inclusion of those viewpoints would have made this a 5-star read.

I recieved a free eARC of this book. Thank you for the opportunity.

Last year, I reviewed "Hear Me", and was delighted to see another book by Kerry Cerra.

Sav is about 2 years out from her Coclear implant surgery. She still struggles at times with word finding and speaking, and finds reading difficult. She is passionate about animals. She's also just moved to a new community, where she's able to attend a marine science magnet school (good), but had to leave the friends behind who understood her and she connected with.

When her first friend in her new community, Tanner, takes her to his family's restaurant opening, to her horror she is served Shark fin soup. This starts Sav down a road of trying to save the sharks. The information given about Shark finning is, unfortunately accurate.

One thing I loved about this book is that Sav makes mistakes. Lots of them. Her road to advocacy isn't perfect by a long shot, and she faces consequences for said mistakes, There is no easy answer, or easy win here. There is, however, a lot of growth and a lot of development.


Like "Hear Me", this book expresses clearly the impact that a hearing loss has, particularly for a kid outside the Deaf community, and how CI's can help immensely but aren't a 100% fix. This is a valuable and very, very, VERY needed viewpoint, and I am thrilled to see more authors with disabilities writing about their disability.


This is a wonderful book. It's wonderful for kids with disabilities who can see themselves reflected and see that Sav's hearing loss impacts her life...but doesn't prevent it. It's wonderful for kids who care, who want to do something, but don't know what as it shows different paths and that some are more helpful than others. Finally, it shows there is no quick win in advocacy, but that small successes can make an impact.


I would suggest any kid reading this book who wants to learn more about sharks and their conservation needs and environmental impact check out the Gills Club, MISS (Minorities in Shark Science) and the American Elasmobranch Society.

I thought this was a great story! Sav is a - big hearted little girl with a lot of love for animals. She is compassionate, inspiring, and committed to her cause. She had a beautiful transition from young troublemaker to a mature, headstrong advocate. I appreciated the representation of hearing impairment because I think it’s so important that children be able to see themselves in literature. This book also taught a lot of important lesson, from being brave in spite of feeling fear, accepting responsibility for your actions, and how important it is to care about the environment. When I was young, like so many others, I wanted to be a marine biologist. I would have loved this book even more if I was a middle-grade child, so I think this is a perfect option for a lot of young readers!

Wow this one blew me away!
Sav is a character with a big heart for animals and once she has a cause, she just doesn't give up. I liked that she is representation of a character with a hearing impairment. We get to learn more about that and what it's like from her.
Some of the things Sav does I didn't love. She was going too far and she learns from it.
I liked that she steps out of her comfort zone to get more used to the ocean and to see how special sharks really are.
I learned a lot about sharks from this book and how they need to be protected.
I was glad she was able to find her place in this new town and figure out between right and wrong. I liked that she apologized to her friends and wanted to help them too.
This is a great middle grade read. I really enjoyed it and I know many middle grade students at the library will too.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC.

One of the things that most impressed me in this book was the complete 180 that Sav is able to pull in her activist journey. She doesn’t intend to be an activist, and focuses instead on making trouble, thinking that’s the best way to be heard and seen and garner attention, as she goes bigger and bigger and gets more out of control, it’s hard to watch as no one wants to listen to her cause anymore. It’s not until she acts more maturely is she able to truly make a difference.

I really enjoyed all the shark facts. I have a BS in marine biology so I knew a lot of the info, but I really appreciate that people who will read this book will found out about the horrors of shark fining and how insanely cool sharks are.

As an adult I had a hard time with the beginning of this book, watching Sav spiral out of control and get depressed. It was difficult because I’m too old to be in that age groups head, and because I know the most effective way to get things done. I think this would be an awesome discussion book for middle grade readers.

This book was so entertaining filled with beautiful illustrations. This is one of those books I wish I would’ve read when I was younger, I’m sure I would’ve absolutely loved it.

I absolutely loved the characters in this book and the story was portrayed so well for younger readers. I’m thinking of getting myself a physical copy for my nephews! I adored the writing and setting in this, I loved the overall meaning too. This was fun and perfect for younger readers!

🌊 🦈 🤿 🌊 🦈 🤿 🌊 🦈 🤿 🌊 🦈 🤿

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with access to read this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this book for free in exchange for my review! All opinions are my own.

This book was adorable and fun and I really enjoyed the illustrations. I think both boys and girls alike will be entertained by this book. It reminded me of this book series I read about fairies as a kid, but I don't remember the name.


Many Thanks again to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Time to share my weekly children’s book reviews. My kids get so excited to see what books I have to read before naps, bedtime, or at breakfast. There are some really cute ones to add to your children’s summer reading book lists!

Scooper and Dumper and the Pumpkin Parade by Lindsay Ward comes out July 8th. My three boys loved the trucks adventures with the pumpkins.

A Rubbish Journey by Jonah Rideout was a really cute chapter book my daughter loved. The story was fun, and entertaining. It comes out June 24.

Keep Trucking by Raven Howell was an adorable book. The illustrations were super cute and my boys again loved the truck story. It comes out May 10.

Ain’t It Funny by Margaret Gurevich was another fun chapter book about following your dreams. My daughter really enjoyed this one. It comes out October 14.

What Are They Feeling by the School of Life is one that is so sweet and great to explain emotions. The kids and I had some fun conversations to follow this one. It comes out September 11.

The Great Turkey Walk by Kathleen Kar is a wonderful story of friendship, and takes you back to 1860. It comes out October 7.

Hailma Superhero Princess by Emily Joof was adorable. The storyline and illustrations were very exciting for the kids. It comes out September 2.

The Sun Never Hurries by Roxane Turcotte was my favorite. Such a precious story and the illustrations were darling. It comes out June 24.

Make a Little Wave by Kerry O’Malley Cerra is a really exciting story! My daughter said this was her favorite. She loved the characters. It comes out September 30.

To Mimi’s House We Go by Susan Meissner was another of my favorite. The story, the pictures, the adventure it took you on was absolutely precious. A fun one for the holidays. Comes out Sept 9.

Leonardo Cohen by Maria Isabel Sanchez-Vegara was a cute story! My kids love to learn new things and these are always so full of knowledge to take away. It comes out August 5.

Fall Feast by Sean Taylor made our family very excited for playing in the leaves. It comes out August 5.

Diwali by Sital Gorasia Chapman was such a good one for kids to learn about another culture. It comes out August 5.