Gifts From the Sea by Natalie Kinsey

Gifts From the Sea

Natalie Kinsey

Random House Children's Books · Paperback · June 14, 2005

Quila MacFarlane is devastated by the death of her mother, especially now that it’s just her and her father on Devils Rock where her father is the lighthouse keeper.

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Who it’s for
A child found at sea brings grief, kinship, and belonging into tender focus.
Themes
Grief and loss, Family bonds, Healing
Genres
Historical Fiction, Adoption Stories, Loss & Grief

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About this book

Quila MacFarlane is devastated by the death of her mother, especially now that it’s just her and her father on Devils Rock where her father is the lighthouse keeper. They can’t leave and almost no one ever comes to visit them. But the morning after a storm, something floats ashore that changes their lives forever: Two small mattresses strapped together, and inside, a baby! They name her Cecelia, which means “a gift from the sea,” and call her Celia.

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She makes them a family again–and helps heal the hurt left by Quila’s mother’s passing. Two years later, though, another stranger arrives, one who changes everything all over again: A woman named Margaret, come looking for the final resting place of her sister, whose ship had gone down in a storm two years before. Her sister’s baby had never been found, either, she explains, and now she has no family of her own. Could this be Celia’s aunt? Will Quila have to give up Celia so Margaret can have her own family back? This is a gripping tale full of love, loss, and healing. Natalie Kinsey-Warnock is the author of many wonderful books for young readers.

Family, Found

A child found at sea brings grief, kinship, and belonging into tender focus.

Come here for

  • A lighthouse family changed by a child found at sea
  • Grief and kinship, with the sea close by

Expect

  • Tender attention to loss and healing
  • Uncertainty over where a child belongs

Where it sits

Loss & Grief76%
Adoption Stories43%
Historical Fiction31%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Alternative Family Stories
  • 20th-Century U.S.
  • Loss & Grief
Authors
Natalie Kinsey
Publisher
Random House Children's Books
Published
June 14, 2005
Format
Paperback
Theme
Grief and loss · Family bonds · Healing
Reading lane
Alternative Family Stories