How to Make Friends with the Sea — Tanya Guerrero

A boy grapples with anxiety as his mother fosters a Filipino orphan girl in this “heartbreaking, heartwarming, powerful” middle grade novel (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).

Pablo is homesick. He's only twelve years old, but he's lived in more countries than he can count. After his parents divorced, he and his mother have moved from place to place for years, never settling anywhere long enough to call it home. And along the way, Pablo has collected more and more fears: of dirt, of germs, and most of all, of the ocean.

Now they're living in the Philippines, and his mother, a zoologist who works at a local wildlife refuge, is too busy saving animals to notice that Pablo might need saving, too. Then his mother takes in Chiqui, an orphaned girl with a cleft lip -- and Pablo finds that through being strong for Chiqui, his own fears don't seem so scary.

He might even find the courage to face his biggest fear of all . . . and learn how to make friends with the sea.