Freebie Friday #23

Please let me know I’m not the only one who’s having a hard time figuring out if a book is self-published or if a big retailer like Amazon has a big finger in it. From what I know, Goodreads is also owned by Amazon (correct me if I’m wrong). Having said that, it’s not very clear which work is self-published or not, which might be a marketing tool from their side.

Hey Everyone

As you know, I’ve been trying a new thing for me, where I share a book I love and provide a free eBook link to it, if possible.

I believe I was meant to find this novel in verse, hear me out. I wanted to read Murray Out of Water by Taylor Tracy last month because it fitted the prompt with sea creatures on the cover, but I couldn’t find it anywhere. Now, as you know, yesterday I wrote a poem about the sea and mental health. Today, I searched the book on a different site, and I found it. Murray feels the water is her magic, but everything changes when a hurricane occurs and she’s forced to move in with her aunt. It deals with gender expression and the power of friendships. Some of the stuff that the parents told their kids really hit close to home.

First Lines:

I fly through the kitchen after school like a
seagull soaring over the sand,
searching for an open bag of chips.

Past my baby brother, Sean, sucking his pacifier,
slapping his chubby hands on his tray.

Past my perfect sister, Kelly, still in uniform—
plaid skirt, navy polo, and gray knee socks—
frowning at an essay on her laptop.

Past Mom slicing juicy apples,
who scowls without looking up.
“No running in the house, Murray.
Act like a young lady, please.”

Goodreads Blurb:

Perfect for fans of Rebecca Stead, Natalie Lloyd, and Jasmine Warga, this beautiful novel in verse explores one girl’s struggle to regain her magic after a hurricane forces her to move away from her beloved ocean that, she believes, has given her special powers. Bighearted and observant twelve-year-old Murray O’Shea loves the ocean. Every chance she gets, she’s in it. It could be because the ocean never makes her apologize for being exactly who she is—something her family refuses to do—but it could also be because of the secret magic that Murray shares with the ocean. Though she can’t explain its presence, the electric buzz she feels from her fingertips down to her toes allows her to become one with the ocean and all its creatures, and it makes Murray feel seen in a way she never feels on land. But then a hurricane hits Murray’s Jersey Shore home, sending the O’Sheas far inland to live with relatives. Being this far from the ocean, Murray seems to lose her magic. And stuck in a house with her family, she can no longer avoid the truths she’s discovering about herself—like how she feels in the clothes her mom makes her wear, or why she doesn’t have boys on the brain like other girls her age. But it’s not all hurricanes and heartache. Thankfully, Murray befriends a boy named Dylan, who has a magic of his own. When Murray agrees to partner with him for a youth roller-rama competition in exchange for help getting her magic back, the two forge an unstoppable bond—one that shows Murray how it’s not always the family you were given that makes you feel whole…sometimes it’s the family you build along the way.

Download Link Here

Goodread Link Here