High Tide in Hawaii

“‘You wouldn’t be Beverly Gray if you were like other folks,’ Anne said, smiling. ‘I hope you won’t ever lose those beautiful ideals of yours. How anyone can be so romantic and such a dreamer in these modern times is beyond me,’ she added.”

These words were written by a teen-age Clair Blank in the early 1930s. Her heroine Beverly Gray is certainly a spirited girl, full of kindness, and possessing an optimism that I found refreshing, especially in these modern times. I never would have thought a novel written by a teen-age girl for teen girls 90 years ago would be such a joy for an old man to read so many years later.

Beverly and her friends are in their first year of college, studying and playing hard, and finding show more adventure at every turn. There’s some danger too, which Beverly navigates through with her strength of character and intelligence. I had an absolute ball reading this book. I could sense Clair Blank’s enjoyment of writing on almost every page.

A special thanks to my buddy, Bobby, for introducing me to this series. show less

I was surprised that this book was more like the Grace Harlowe or Marjorie Dean series than Nancy Drew. For 1934, it features a lot of the same plot structure and women's college themes that showed up twenty years earlier, even down to the group of eight best friends from high school. Really good, but much less modern than I was expecting!

The Magic Treehouse books always deliver. They're among my favorite youth readers. This series encourages imagination, while also taking children through historical periods and learning moments.

The Magic Tree House Books are one of my favorite series to read. The mystery and adventure of them really engages you as a reader. However, it is also an informational book and teaches you about the different cultures of wherever Jack and Annie's tree house takes them. In High Tide in Hawaii, the Magic Tree House takes them back a few years to Hawaii where you learn about volcanoes and tsunamis. One of my favorite aspects about this book is when Jack and Annie have to learnt he culture of the Hawaiians when telling a story. The people of Hawaii do no have books and were curious as to what the book was Jack was always carrying. Instead of books, they told their stories in the form of a dance. This shows readers that even though Hawaii show more in the United States, their culture is extremely different. I also really enjoyed the plot this story had. Jack and Annie met friends that wanted to teach them to surf. They both had to overcome this challenge of learning how to surf. Jack does not want to learn and is uninterested whereas Annie is the complete opposite. When Jack is rude to his new friends and Annie, he sits out alone. All of the sudden he sees a giant tsunami. Jack quickly looked up what tsunami was and what effect it could have on the village. Since Annie and their friends were out learning to surf and could not hear Jack warning them, Jack had to overcome his fear and surf out to them. After everyone was saved, Jack apologized to his new friends and to Annie about being nasty to them. Everyone learned a new meaning of friendship. I also enjoyed this book because the information is authentic and accurate. If you read this book without knowing anything about Hawaii, you are able to finish it with some new insights. show less

This book follows brother and sister, Jack and Annie, as they travel to ancient Hawaii to find a "special kind of ship," which turns out to be the power of friendship. They meet and become friends with a local brother and sister named Kama and Boka, learn to surf, and experience Hawaiian culture. When they learn that an earthquake is about to cause a tsunami, they work together with their new friends to help the community survive the tidal wave. This book would be most appropriate for 2nd-4th grade and might be used for early versions of book reports, teaching a lesson about friendship, or even a portion of history discussing native Hawaiians and their culture.

I really like how this book had both factual and cultural information about Hawaii. This gives students a glimpse into a new culture that they might have not experienced before which helps with cultural diversity within a classroom. The book was very fun to read and I feel like it would keep students interested because the characters are easily relatable not only in age but in how they interact with one another. The book also had great life lessons for students to acknowledge about friendship and family and how wonderful they can be.

I love these stories reading along with my nephew this summer. I like that there is always some historical or cultural aspect. Here they Hawaiians are still living in traditional wasys. While they are there they learn to surf and hula. The unthinkable happens when a tsunami comes along, but the quick modern thinking of the kids saves the day.