Title: A Very Large Expanse Of Sea   Author: Tahereh Mafi  Date Published: October 18, 2018

Setting(s) Of Book: School, Shirin’s house, Ocean’s house

Main Characters: Shirin and Ocean

Plot Summary: Shirin is a Muslim girl who is going to a new school and is having a tough time fitting in. People treat her really badly and she gets a few stares in the beginning. Nobody is really her friend until she meets a boy named Ocean during a lab project, and they slowly fall in love with each other. Along the way, Ocean gets suspended from school and kicked off his basketball team because of his love for Shirin; their shaky relationship which distracted him from other things like his basketball games. They stop talking to each other because of these issues, but get back together in the end when Ocean stops caring much about his game and wants to be together with her. In the end, Shirin was forced to move to another location with her family which would separate the two for a long time or maybe even forever. She reflects back on how meeting Ocean gave a gift to her - a gift to believe in others. 

Main Characters Traits (Shirin):

She is very quiet, likes to avoid others and listens to music all day long. She is also 16 years old and muslim, which means that she has been treated harshly by other people. 

Main Characters Traits (Ocean):

Talkative, and likes to know people (one example would be when he first met Shirin, and they were silent except Ocean kept on trying to start a conversation).  He is also very kind and supportive and worries for the people that he loves. 

Conflict:

There were many small conflicts throughout the book, instead of one big one. Mainly conflict surrounding the relationship affecting Ocean’s basketball game.

The Themes: Below is a list of themes present:

Hate & love
Stereotypes
Acceptance 

Love is present in the fact that Ocean loves Shirin and Shirin loves Ocean as well. The author does a great job of changing the circumstances and not keeping the relationship stable. There are even parts of the book where the characters' feelings change, and instead of Ocean loving Shirin, he doesn't like her and avoids her. Also, the author captures stereotypes by showing the readers the types of actions taken by those around Shirin simply because of her religion and race (some examples include rude/ignorant comments, taking photos without consent, etc). There are obvious differences between the two protagonists, and they have to learn to get along with each other. On page 50, Shirin says that Ocean talks way too much, and that is true compared to her. This is what makes their relationship so different from others: the amount of contrast between the two is striking, but they still get along in the end. What is important is learning to accept each other for who they are, and afterward learning to move on and leave the past behind. 

REVIEW:

I would give this book a 5/5 because the author's writing kept me engaged throughout the book and I finished it in one sitting. The story has a lot of suspense which is what kept me flipping the pages - I didn't know what would happen next. I would definitely recommend this book to others because it will show you how others are different in their own ways and how they cope with their situation.