The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake

THE LAST TRUE POETS OF THE SEA by Julia Drake has a beautiful cover, doesn’t it? This young adult novel introduces the story of Sam, who has tried to kill himself, but it focuses primarily on Violet, his sister who feels guilt, remorse, anger. Well actually, she is not sure what she feels or how to react when she is sent to live with her Uncle Toby for the summer in a small, coastal town named Lyric, Maine.  Violet meets new friends (Orion, Liv, Mariah, and Felix) and develops a romantic relationship as she struggles to repair her ties with her brother (under treatment in Vermont) and parents (working in New York City).  Drake explores bisexuality in this coming of age novel that also has an element of suspense and family history due to a long ago shipwreck. I thought that THE LAST TRUE POETS OF THE SEA started well and was quite engaging, but it also slowed a bit in the middle (too much angst over boyfriends and girlfriends?) before resolving many of the issues (“no one thing could fix us, because no one thing was wrong. The fixing would be in keeping going, in trying.”) and chronicling some of the healing. Drake writes beautifully: “I felt the weight of my brother’s sadness in my own chest. He was a jellyfish being asked to float on land.” Loosely evoking Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, THE LAST TRUE POETS OF THE SEA received a number of starred reviews, including ones from Booklist (grades 10+), Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, School Library Connection, and School Library Journal (grades 8+).