Make a Little Wave

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.

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.

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 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.

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 really enjoyed the use of sharks and thought this was a beautifully done children’s novel. The overall feel was great and enjoyed the concept and how it was executed. The characters worked overall and can’t wait for more from Kerry O'Malley Cerra.