Sea by Hiedi R. Kling

Sea is a novel of loss, recovery, and healing. Sienna is fifteen and recovering from the death of her mother three years before. She has recurring nightmares about the accident in which her mother died. Her mother’s plane went down during a storm over the Indian Ocean. Before the accident, Sienna loved the ocean; after, she’s terrified of it. Her father decides to help Sienna get over her mother’s death, her fear of the ocean, and her nightmares by inviting her to accompany him and his staff to Indonesia. It is 2004 and her father and his team are psychologists going to help the children deal with the Tsunami disaster. Sienna is adamantly opposed to going, but eventually she decides to face her fears after watching a short video about the survivors of the Tsunami.

After a long and harrowing flight, she and the team arrive in Yogikarta. Sienna finds many surprises, including romance, religious and cultural shock, and closure. She has fun, but at the same time, helps others. I enjoyed reading Sea; It’s a great book. Ms. Kling does a good job of describing what it must have been like for those who were the survivors of the Tsunami. The ending was somewhat sad and a bit surprising, but it leaves you with hope. There were a few discrepancies, but on the whole, it was great. The imagery was wonderful; you really felt like you were there with Sienna. I’ll give this one a 4.