They make a formidable dynamic duo who have a perfect record when it comes to keeping her dad single. Her cohort and trusted sidekick in these endeavors is her neighbor and best friend Ahkai, an inquisitive critical thinker who loves reading and is somewhere on the Autism Spectrum. More specifically, coming up with imaginative and sometimes stinky ways to scare off any potential step-monsters. I’m being a little glib here for the fun of it, but as the book starts out, you’ll see that Josephine’s main priority in life, besides the sport of cricket, is her dad’s many suitors. What’s at stake is not only the fate of her father’s dating life, but to a certain degree, the village of Fairy Vale (a real place), her home. Josephine Against the Sea, the first in the Josephine Against the “something” series, serves as a bit of an origin story for the book’s intrepid would-be heroine, Josephine Elisabeth Zara Cadogan. Yes, you’ll bear the heat, smell the fish market, feel the ocean breeze, and taste the salt in the air, and you’ll love it! This is a testament to not only Bourne’s storytelling abilities and inspired character work, but also her clear love of her home island of Barbados which is on full display as one of the books main characters. Josephine knows that Mariss isn’t what she seems…she might not be human! But who’s going to believe her? Can Josephine convince her friends to help her and use her cricket skills to save Daddy from Mariss’s clutches before it’s too late?Īs soon as you start reading Josephine Against the Sea by Shakirah Bourne, you’ll get a very clear picture of not only the environment you’re in, but also that the lead character is someone you’re going to be rooting for despite her initial mischievousness. Josephine knows there’s something fishy about Mariss–she sings in a strange language, eats weird food, and seems to exert mysterious control over everyone she meets. And unlike the other girlfriends, she doesn’t scare easily. The next day, Daddy brings home a new catch, a beautiful woman named Mariss.

She’ll get to play her favorite sport AND make sure her fisherman daddy is too busy attending her matches to date.īut when tryouts go badly, the frustrated Josephine cuts into a powerful silk cotton tree and accidentally summons a bigger problem into her life. That’s why she’s desperate to make it onto her school’s cricket team. Meet Josephine, the most loveable mischief-maker in Barbados, in a magical, heartfelt adventure inspired by Caribbean mythology.Įleven-year-old Josephine knows that no one is good enough for her daddy.

Josephine against the sea