Girl of the Southern Sea

by Michelle Kadarusman

From the time she was a little girl, Nia has dreamed up adventures about the Javanese mythical princess, Dewi Kadita. Now fourteen, Nia would love nothing more than to continue her education and become a writer. But high school costs money her family doesn’t have; everything her father earns selling banana fritters at the train station goes to their meager existence in the Jakarta slums―assuming he doesn’t drink it all away first.

But Nia―forced to grow up too soon to take care of her baby brother following their mother’s death during childbirth―is determined to find a way to earn her school fees. After she survives a minibus accident unharmed and the locals say she is blessed with ‘good luck magic,’ Nia exploits the notion for all its worth by charging double for her fried bananas. Selling superstitions can be dangerous, and when the tide turns and she discovers her father’s secret plan to marry her off to a much older admirer, It becomes clear that Nia’s future is being mapped without her consent.

If Nia is to write a new story for herself, she must overcome more obstacles than she could ever have conceived of for her mythical princess, and summon courage she isn’t sure she has.

Genres: Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Fiction, Contemporary, Childrens, Poverty, School

224 pages, Hardcover

First published May 23, 2019

About the author

Michelle Kadarusman is originally from Australia and Indonesia and often shares her cultural background in her work. She is twice-nominated for a Governor General’s Literary Award and her work has been translated into Spanish, German, Japanese and Turkish. Her middle-grade novels have earned many nominations and honors, including the Freeman Book Awards, Green Earth Books Awards, USBBY Outstanding International Books and Malka Penn Award for Human Rights in Children's Literature. She lives in Australia and Canada.

Reviews

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a beautiful book I now hold so close to my heart. As an Indonesian-Australian reader, I related so much to this having been to Jakarta many times in my life, understanding the culture, the language, seeing the chaos in the city traffic, the poverty and even the slum areas. I felt close to the protagonist, Nia and I loved her fierce spirit and sheer determination of wanting to make her life her own. It’s true - many girls who grow up in poverty don’t have access to education and they are often thrown into a life that’s not theirs. Nia shows these girls hope - while she accepts her responsibility to care for her younger brother in her parents’ absence, she refused to accept this to be her fate and was determined to go to high school and become a writer. What I also loved about this book was a well known Indonesian legend being intertwined into the story - it was so cleverly blended into the story, the story we followed with reference to the legend was very well balanced. I couldn’t put this book down - I was so engrossed and I am so thankful this book has been written. This book can be enjoyed by readers of all cultures. It’s eye opening for those who don’t know that much about Jakarta, Indonesia as well as relatable for those who share the Indonesian culture. I now want to go to Pelabuhan Ratu to see the very place the legend of Nyai Roro Kidul aka Dewi Kadita (which you read about in this book) is based.

[Abby Johnson]

Nia dreams of continuing her education but her family doesn’t have the fees for high school. When her alcoholic father is injured in a police altercation, Nia must take her family’s food cart into her own hands to put food on the table for her little brother. This is a peek inside a life of abject poverty and the story is gritty but not without hope.

Hand to readers of TRASH by Andy Mulligan or AMAL UNBOUND by Aisha Saaed.

[Kathie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A huge thank you to the author and Pajama Press for sharing a copy of GIRL OF THE SOUTHERN SEA with #bookportage. I loved THE THEORY OF HUMMINGBIRDS, so I was very pumped when Michelle offered to send her new book my way. I am so, so excited about this book, and would dearly love to get it into as many hands as possible.

Nia lives in Jakarta with her father and little brother. Although she desperately wants to go to high school, her father's careless use of the family's resources makes it impossible for her to continue her studies. When a string of bad luck affects her family, Nia makes a choice to take advantage of an opportunity to fulfill her dreams. Unfortunately, her father has other plans for her, and Nia must find a way to stand up for what she believes in.

I really love to read middle grade stories set in other countries, especially when they are told by #ownvoices authors, and Jakarta is not a place about which I've ever read a book. Intermingled with the reality of Nia's life are stories that she tells her little brother about about Nyai Roro Kidul (Dewi Kadita), who is also known as the Princess of the Southern Sea, and inspires Nia. Though she is faced with many challenges and hardships, Nia is hopeful about the future, and this commitment to her dreams in the face of adversity is what I loved most about this story.

I will be actively promoting and talking about this book because I believe we learn so much from stories where characters' lives are different from our own. Not only does it encourage empathy and understanding, but we also see how certain qualities, like hope, are something we all have in common. I strongly encourage you to pre-order a copy of this book, and share it with the students and middle grade readers in your life.

[Phinn McKeon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book, it is a upsetting tale of female power and that you should follow your own dreams and not someone elses. The main character is a 14 year old girl living in Indonesia, named Nia, the longs to go to high school to become an author, which has always been her and her mothers dream since she was little, but in Indonesia free public school only goes from elementary school to middle school, then you have to pay for high school. Her and her parents lived a minimalistic life in the slums of Jakarta, in a small flat, where her father funs a fried bananna cart. When her little brother, Rudi, is born her mother dies, their father becomes depressed, which sends him cascading in a downwards spiral of alcohol, spending all the money they make and save up. Nia is forced to stay at home and do all the chores and take care of both her father and little brother, who is now five. In her free time Nia practices her studies with her friend in hopes to one day go to high school. When the police mess with her father at the market where he works, instead of obeying the police he decides to fight them and is severly burned with hot oil and left with third degree burns covering his body. The police drag him away to jail, where Nia then has to fish him out and take hime to the doctor with the little money they have. While her father is recovering Nia has to run the little bananna cart and find enough money to pay the rent. Soon her father recovers and he is back to running the cart again, when one day he asks her to take the money to the office to pay the rent, so she gets on the minibus, only to end up flying onto the ground in an accident, luckily there isn't even a scratch on her body. A man on the side of the road, who just happened to see the accident happen, escorts her back to her fathers cart. The man's name is Oskar and he insists on telling everybody her exhilirating tale. Her tale draws in many many customers, where she makes the most money she has ever made. All the customers think she has magical powers and good luck, so they buy many and become more and more popular, Oskar tells Nia to double the price. One day after working in the fried banana cart she goes to pick up her brother from his friends house, when his friends mom tells her that her father was going to the property he owned to build them a house. Nia heads home with Rudi to make dinner and go to sleep. The next day, when Nia is selling her fried bananas a customer comes up saying her magic didn't work and that she wanted a refund, so Nia hands it over. Soon people all around town are coming around asking for refunds, when a mob of people come up saying she was a theif, of their trust and money. They threaten to burn down her cart and her. Then all of a sudden the graveyard keeper steps in front of Nia, telling the others to fend off, since everyone is scared of her they all back away, leaving Nia in tears, her clothes ripped to shreds, the graveyard keeper takes care of her and buys her a shower and new clothes, but when they get back to Nia's house somebody had broken the lock and left the house completely ransacked. Who is guilty and where did all of her money and mothers things go? I highly recommend this book as a quick, interesting book.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story begins with Nia living in poverty with her father, who drinks, and her little brother. They are living in a shanty town in Jakarta, Indonesia. Nia is very intelligent, but intelligence does not pay the school fees, so she is forced to drop out of school.

Nia's mother died in childbirth, and her father mourns in his own way, which is drinking all their earnings away.

This story seemed so familiar, a young girl who is denied education, because of poverty. It is a sad state of affairs.

Good middle school book that could introduce children to how others in the world live.

The name of the book refers to a legend of Jakarta, and Nia writes down her own versions of the stories.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

[Marcie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michelle Kadarusman's Girl of the Southern Sea is an empowering narrative about fourteen-year-old Nia's indomitable drive to forge her own destiny despite societal constraints and the lack of familial resources. The addition of a map, a glossary, and the Legend of Nyai Roro Kidul (Dewi Kadita) furthers the reader's understanding of place and culture.

[Denise Goodkey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book to my granddaughter. She says it is the best thing I have ever read to her. It is supposed to be for young teens. It does give a North American child a taste of another country where life is a lot harder and things ( like education for 12 years ) is taken for granted.

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Could you imagine having your life mapped out for you and you have no control over it? Nia's life is spiraling out of control, she is forced to live a life she doesn't want, and decisions are being made for her. At age fourteen, Nia has had to grow up way too fast. Her mother passed away just after giving birth to Nia's little brother. Nia's father has never recovered from her death and he spends most of his time and their money drinking. Nia has had to raise her little brother all by herself in the slums of Jakarta. Nia is extremely smart and wants to become a writer but those dreams seem to be as far away as the ocean is deep. In Jakarta your schooling is free until you reach high school, then you have to pay to go to school, and Nia doesn't have the money for that. Nia and her dad run a fried banana cart and what little money they make goes to rent the shack they live in, meager groceries, and mostly to her father's alcohol. Nia wants to write her own story but things go from bad to worse when she survives a minibus accident. She is the only one who survives so people now think that she is "magic". She exploits this by doubling the price of her fried bananas, but her "good luck" runs out quickly and she seems to lose everything. Her father leaves her and her brother alone, an angry mob attacks her when her "magic" runs out, and her father has promised her hand in marriage to a man she refuses to marry. Can Nia turn her life around or will she be stuck in the slums forever? Will Nia's father ever come back to help her or will she be forced to marry a man just because her father promised? Will Nia ever be able to attend high school and become a writer telling all of the stories her mother used to tell her about the Queen of the Southern Sea? Read this incredible story to find out the answers to these questions and so much more!!

This story is so full of sadness, loss, bitterness, and heartbreak but it is also so full of love, friendship, hope and determination! Nia is an inspiration to me because she has been dealt such a bad hand in life but she is intent on making a better life for herself. I am so naive when it comes to how people live outside of my little bubble in this world and it breaks my heart to know that people truly live like this. It also saddens me to know that there are girls today who do not have a choice about what they do or who they marry. This is why I commend Michelle Kadarusman for donating a portion of the book's proceeds to Plan International Canada's #BecauseIAmaGirl campaign. This is a book that needs to be in every library and every classroom around the world! Let's make a change!!!
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[Joyce Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michelle Kadarusman beautifully portrays the fierce, brave and practical Nia as she navigates through the choppy waters of her life's challenges. A drunken father, a near-fatal minibus crash and harrowing treatment at the hands of some of the people around her. Kadarusman elegantly and respectfully describes the Jakarta slums in a way that is visceral, so we can see, smell and almost touch it. The author depicts challenging events with an even hand, always showing how Nia's strength can also be the reader's strength. And when Nia finds helpers, we rejoice in the kindness of humanity. A beautiful read, highly recommended.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good, the kind of book you want to shove into people's hands and insist they read.

[Michelle Kadarusman · Rating 5 out of 5]

So very proud this book is nominated for the 2019 Governor General's Award for Young People's Literature. A portion of proceeds will support @PlanCanada's Because I Am A Girl campaign.

[Storytime With Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michelle Kadarusman is one of my favourite middle grade authors. Her writing is so timely and beautiful and feature strong female main characters. Girl of the Southern Sea is an incredibly impactful story of Nia who is growing up in Jakarta, Indonesia without a mother and with a father who is struggling with the loss of his wife.

Nia is a bright creative fourteen year old who not only keeps up her studies even though she can no longer attend school but also cares for her younger brother and helps her father with the family food-cart business. In Jakarta once you reach high school you need to begin to pay for schooling and the family cannot afford for Nia to continue her studies however she is determined to complete her schooling one way or another. Living in the slums has its challenges for Nia, worrying about thieves and her father’s absences but her strength carries her family.

Girl of the Southern Sea speaks to anyone with a storyteller’s heart. Nia tells the most incredible stories about Dewi Kadita to her brother to help assuage his fears and to help her escape from the harsh reality of life as she knows it. Michelle Kadarusman has given us an incredible gift in this story, inspired by her family trips to her father’s hometown in Indonesia. Nia’s is a story that is not confined to the slums of Jakarta, it’s the story of many young girls throughout the world who don’t have access to a proper education and are forced into the life of an adult before they are barely in their teenage years or younger. Michelle Kadarusman brings into sharp focus the privilege we experience living in a first world country and opens our children’s eyes to the injustices faced by children in other parts of the world. Nia’s story is told with love and bravery. You don’t feel sad for Nia you want to fight along side her, to change her future and to ensure a better life for her and her brother. Part of the proceeds from this book are being donated to Plan International to ensure that girls throughout the world are given opportunities they would otherwise miss.

[Monique · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ibu Jaga grunts. “You know the difference between right and wrong. Sometimes telling a lie is the right thing; most times it is wrong. Sometimes superstitions are harmless, other times it is wrong. Sometimes superstitions are harmless, other times they hurt and deceive people. She drills her bony finger into my chest. “You decide, in here, what is right and what is wrong.” (Pg. 159)

A selection from my huge ALA 2019 DC Conference book haul that I stood in line for to get signed..—ah an autographed copy..I really enjoyed this one also as it was totally different from what I am normally drawn to and I am happy I read it..So this is the story of Nia, her brother Rudi, father Babak and their life in Indonesia living poor after the loss of their mom..Nia has a best friend named Yuli and one of the most exciting parts of her simple life is school and education and she loves to read and write. Her deepest aspirations are to go to high school and become a writer of stories her mother used to tell her of Dewi Kadita a queen that ruled under the sea—she entertained her brother with these stories while her father spent nights out drinking the rent money away..Her fathers irresponsibility with money and weakness for liquor made him completely unreliable and left Nia most times shouldering all the household duties and rules. Nia’s must now make the batter and sell fried banana fritters with her father’s cart for money and while you think this is only about Nia’s struggles it becomes much more ---this short but sweet story becomes so much more unexpectedly about truth and finding out who you are…I don’t want to give too much away because its surprising how dark and interesting this story gets…I think this will be a great read to introduce to middle school this year, it was far better than I expected..recommended!

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fourteen-year-old Nia, a talented writer, storyteller, and student, dreams of attending school and making a better life for herself and her young brother, Rudi. But as their father continues to drink heavily and spend the money the family needs for the basic necessities, she sees her dreams growing further and further out of reach. She can no longer afford to go to school and must go to work. As it is, living in the slums of Jakarta, Indonesia, is challenging enough for anyone, but saddled with heavy responsibilities ever since her mother died, Nia is close to giving up hope. Still, she does what she can, helping her father make and sell fritters in the local market, and when she somehow survives an accident in which others were killed, she attracts the attention of Oskar, a wealthier older man, who drums up customers for her. At first, she follows his suggestion to charge extra for the fritters since they are lucky because she made them, but eventually, her customers turn on her when their luck doesn't change. She barely escapes with her life after a mob comes close to burning her alive. Nia learns the truth about her father and where he's been spending his free time and also loses all the money she's managed to save. At her lowest moment, though, a glimmer of hope keeps her going, and she remains determined to go to school. Teen readers who think they have it tough need to read this book and see what a challenging situation really is. Like me, they'll surely be rooting for Nia to survive and accomplish her goals.

[Kristin Crouch · Rating 5 out of 5]

*Thank you to the author for sharing a review copy with #collabookation.*
Girl of the Southern Sea takes us to Jakarta, into the life of Nia, a young girl who must find a way to sustain her family while her father works to ruin it.
Heartbreaking in struggle, the reader understands Nia's unending dedication to her brother and the memory of her mother. Every day, as she gets her brother off to school, she is reminded of the dream she had to abandon. Through much difficulty, Nia never loses faith in the choices she's had to make. With the help of mythological Goddess Dewi Kadita, Nia finds the strength to solve the problems she can and work to be her best every day.
This book is a wonderful tribute to kids all over the world who suffer through the choices their parents make. Nia, as is true of any child, deserves nothing but good. However, her life is very difficult and dangerous. Lovingly, Kadarusman infuses the story with hope and faith with the inclusion of Dewi Kadita.
Students will enjoy spending time in Jakarta - a world away from North America. But more than that, they will be inspired by Nia's love for herself and her family, Nia's hopes for education, and her work to achieve what seems completely impossible. Highly recommend Girl of the Southern Sea to students in grades 5 and up.

[ebookclassics]

Girl of the Southern Sea is about fourteen year-old Nia, a young girl who lives in the slums of Jakarta. Her father is a drunk and she is not only forced to take care of her younger brother, but drop out of school because they can’t afford the fees for her to continue school. Nia dreams of returning to school and becoming a writer. She is known for telling fantastic stories about a princess from the sea and shares many of these tales throughout the book. When her father is thrown in jail, Nia has to take over her father’s business in order to pay rent and keep them fed. Although Nia was already aware of how few opportunities she has in life, a number of incidents really bring home the ways in which society wants to keep girls like her oppressed. However, as horrible as these moment are, Nia stays strong and won’t give up on her dreams. With the help of a few friends, Nia finds her way to a better life. I enjoyed Michelle Kadarusman’s last book, The Theory of Hummingbirds, and knew immediately I wanted to read her new one. I really thought Nia’s story highlights how young girls can be forced to grow up quickly and are told to have few expectations in life, but if they continue to believe in themselves, the world opens up and gives them a place to shine. This was something the author wanted to raise awareness of and she is donating a portion of her royalties to Plan International’s Because I Am A Girl campaign, and the book’s publisher, Pajama Press will match her donation.

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nia is such an intelligent, ambitious, and courageous girl who is determined to make a better life for herself, refusing to accept that her schooling is over. Girl of the Southern Sea is an incredible, honest novel written by Michelle Kadarusman, well-deserving of it’s Junior Library Guild gold standard selection, that follows Nia’s journey through some difficult situations in the slums of Jakarta and her unyielding efforts to see to it that she saves enough money to attend high school. She’s not had an easy life—losing her mother then subsequently tasked with the responsibility of taking care of her baby brother and alcoholic father—in poverty with bouts of bad luck. Still this book is hopeful as you read of Nia’s grit and thoughtfulness. Nia is a wonderful story teller and shares her vivid retellings of Dewi Kadita, a mythological goddess throughout the book. These stories not only serve as entertainment and comfort for her brother, but as a creative outlet for Nia, inspiring her to find her own power and persist through adversity. This book is touching through the end to the authors note as she shares her experiences in the region and her efforts to support Plan International Canada’s Because I am a Girl initiative.

[Stephanie Bange · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible peek into the life of a third world young teenage girl, whose destiny can turn on the whim of those around her.

Growing up in extreme poverty in Jakarta, Indonesia, Nia is the bond that holds together her family -- her younger brother and alcoholic father. She sees an escape from penury if she can only attend high school in order to become a writer. When she is sole survivor of a horrible bus crash, a stranger steps in to help her cash in on other's superstitious beliefs. The get-rich scheme escalates her in a downward spiral toward danger and a forced marriage.

An incredible story of bravery and self-confidence in a world not often seen in the U.S. Nia and her family live meal-to-meal. Theirs is a world fraught with danger. Nia buoys her and her brother's spirits by telling stories about the Queen of the Southern Sea -- stories told to her by her late mother. Nia's indomitable spirit carries this story to its logical conclusion. Kadarusman has opened wide a door into this world so foreign to ours - religion, customs, foods, lifestyle. Armchair traveling at its peak.

Highly recommended for grades 5-9.

[Jill Jemmett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fantastic story! It was exciting and suspenseful.

This was a fast paced story. I almost read all of it in one sitting. There were many impactful scenes, such as a bus crash and a fight at the market. Even though these were scenes where bad things happened, they would make an impact on the reader because of how sudden and life changing they were for the characters. It made for a thrilling story.

This book deals with some serious issues such as child marriage and the lack of available education for young girls in certain parts of the world. I’m sure some kids in Western countries couldn’t even imagine these kinds of things happening to girls like them. It was chilling to read about, because there is nothing the girls can do in these situations to save themselves. Nia was lucky in this story, but most girls aren’t as lucky.

I really enjoyed this novel! I highly recommend it for middle grade readers!

Thank you Pajama Press for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Liam Coffee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Girl of the Southern Sea, written by Michelle Kadarusman

The book is about Nia, a girl in Australia raising her younger brother and helping her father with his fried banana cart. The story follows Nia as she survives a minibus accident, and uses this to help boost her fried banana sales. When things go sour, her father disappears and Nia has to find him, all while raising her younger brother. At the same time, Nia is exploring writing, and has a fictional story that follows the Queen of the Southern Sea.

I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was well written and explored important topics, while still being very engaging and interesting. Nia feels very fleshed out and realistic. She experiences human emotions in a very realistic manner that makes her feel very real. The problems Nia faces in this story are authentic, realistic, and the solutions feel very thought out as well. Michelle Kadarusman grew up in Australia, so I believe she understands these problems in a more meaningful manner.

[Erin Nicholson · Rating 4 out of 5]

There have been a few YA realistic fiction books that I have read where young people in dire circumstances that I don’t have any frame of reference for. I’ve never been to Indonesia. I’ve never even really seen the poverty described in this book, even from afar.

This story, like the others I’ve read, leaves a dissonant feeling inside me. The story is harrowing. Nia overcomes so much, is burdened with so much more than any 14-year-old should. But she comes out the other side.

Still, her situation is precarious. She even mentions that it’s all hanging in a delicate balance. I really enjoyed her story, but knowing there are young girls throughout the world whose story does not end well leaves me with a melancholy feeling.

Overall, a very good, if sometimes hard to get through, story about a girl having to do so, so much just to get by.

[Shari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Girl of the Southern Sea is a fantastically-written, unapologetically-gritty story of the hardships that many must survive around the world.
Nia is a storyteller, and longs to be a real writer one day. But living in the slums of Jakarta, Indonesia, there is little hope of escape. At 9 years old, Nia had to begin caring for her baby brother when her mother died in childbirth. Now at 14, Nia takes care of Rudi and their alcoholic father while dreaming of going to high school and having the opportunity to learn. When her father begins to spiral out of control, Nia must fill his shoes as the breadwinner of the family, and is pressured from adults around her that should be supporting her. Events build to a boiling point and Nia loses almost everything except her grit, determination, and belief in herself. She gets back up and takes control of the situation before it takes control of her.
I loved the stories Nia tells of the Princess, and her reverence for her mother’s prized possessions. Nia is such a sympathetic character, you can’t help but cheer her on, hoping against hope that things will turn out for her.
Reading stories that are vastly different from our own experiences is so important for building empathy, and seeing all people not as “others” but as fellow humans, all with our struggles, failures, and triumphs.

[Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest opinion.

Nia is a wonderful character living in poverty in Indonesia. Her alcoholic father sells her family's banana fritters at a cart in the local market, but he is unreliable at best, and it is fourteen year old Nia who is left to run the household and care for her younger brother. Her dream is to go to high school so that she can become a famous writer, but it is a goal that doesn't seem to be attainable in her given circumstances. When it is most needed, she finds help from the unlikeliest of friends.

[Terry Maguire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nia's life in Jakarta is nothing but difficult: she longs for an education but high school requires a tuition payment, even at government schools, and her father spends most of their hard-earned money on drinking. When an accident occurs at the banana fritter stand where Nia's father works, Nia is forced to provide for the family as she also helps her father convalesce. A hastily arranged marriage forces Nia to make a difficult decision, and though I found the ending of this novel a bit too rosy given how realistic most of the novel was up until that point, a truer ending might have simply been too bleak for MG readers. Readers who enjoyed The Bridge Home by Padma Venkatramen will also enjoy this one.

[Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book appealed to me as it reminded me of Everlasting Nora, a similar sort of story. I enjoyed this story just as well and can't recommend it enough as a book to both older children (think 6th grade up) and teens. I have recommended it to friends. It's a hard scrabble life for Nia who dreams of being a writer, but so many obstacles are in her way- a father who's a drunk, a younger brother, poverty....You find your self rooting for Nia immediately. I just wanted to see her beat the odds so badly. I love underdog tales-so inspirational.

I received a Kindle arc from netgalley in exchange for a fair review.

[PB · Rating 5 out of 5]

Girl of the Southern Sea is the best kind of book for children/young adults: well written, magically evocative of time, place and people, honest, never patronising or sentimental, and educational. And its heroine Nia gives us hope and a role model for our daughters and young women everywhere in her determination, intelligence, and decency, while remaining a real girl with flaws and insecurities. I foresee GOTSS will be around for a long time.

[Nan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the writing and how the characters were so relatable even if they made poor choices. Insight into a difficult way of life for girls who live in the slums of Southeast Asia. I admired Nia’s strength and convictions as she works to save money to go back to school. With difficult issues such as alcoholism, living in poverty, and arranged marriages, this book dealt with them beautifully. I also liked Nia’s fairy tales about the Sea Queen and her devotion to her little brother.

[Becki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley and Pajama Press for the advanced copy. This was a beautiful glimpse into the slums of Jakarta where we meet Nia, who dreams of going to high school. Unfortunately, her life keeps changing in ways she never expected and now her future is also being decided for her. She has the choice to just accept her new fate or to fight for her dream of going to high school. Fortunately, Nia chooses to fight for her future and her family.

[Olga Barnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is another book on the market that brings out the strength of young characters, especially a girl in a society that girls are not traditionally treated as having the same value as boys. The subjects of poverty, grief and substance abuse are front and center in this book as is the value of education. I really enjoyed getting to know the legend of the Queen of the Southern Sea!

[Margriet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story about girl power and the importance of an education. I especially like the unique setting in Indonesia. The story is grounded in a realistic environment of a girl struggling in the slums of Jakarta. An eye opener for young readers in the western world.
I also like how the author wove traditional tales, cultural storytelling and superstition into this story.