While browsing the shelves at my local library, I came across a book by one of my favorite authors, Gary Schmidt, who gifted us with brilliant works like Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, The Wednesday War, and Okay for Now. The book is A Day at the Beach (2025), co-authored with Ron Koertge. I think I was drawn to it because summer is ending, and I was feeling a desire to keep it going for a little while longer. (I love the fall, but I don’t love what follows—the cold of winter.) Living in New Mexico, I have no sandy ocean beaches nearby, but I know that a good book can take me there. This one did, but mostly it introduced me to some wonderful kids, plus a couple of cool dogs, as they experience one summer day at a New Jersey beach from dawn until dusk—Frisbees, kites, bodysurfing, sandcastles, metal detectors, friendship, broken hearts, whales, grief, loss, seashells, family dynamics and much more.
The cover offers a bird’s-eye view of everyone at the beach. Then, inside, through 28 intertwining, understated vignettes, we zoom in to the lives of individuals (mostly tweens) and families for a few moments. I love the format, the decisions that were made in the making of this book. Everyone is in his or her own space and, at the same time, in the universal space of the beach. Voices are unique and distinctive. These humorous (sometimes hilarious), heartfelt, often poignant, slices of life are short, yet the authors manage to go deep enough to make me care, to make me want to follow each character home for more of the story. Each chapter can stand alone, but some overlap and weave together like a loosely connected tapestry. This book is character driven—my favorite narrative focus—so, if you prefer a single plot with a climax and resolution, this may not suit you. Many things are left hanging, but isn’t life like that?
A Day at the Beach offers the fun of seaside adventures, a little science, and profound moments of growing up. If you are looking for a quick, lovely read to extend your summer, you won’t be disappointed.
Happy reading, my friends!