My Blue Ocean
“Shimmering scales. Crashing tides. A lifelong promise. My Blue Ocean is the story of a girl, a mermaid, and the promise to keep Hampton Beach clean and beautiful. When Susie meets a mermaid in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, she learns the ocean is in trouble. Plastic drifts with the tide, and the creatures below are in danger. Years later, Susie returns with a dream to help clean the shore she loves. A magical story of friendship, hope, and protecting the sea. Blending wonder with real-world environmental themes, this is a story about curiosity, determination, and an unlikely friendship. My Blue Ocean shows how even the smallest encounter can inspire a lifetime of change. This uplifting tale is perfect for bedtime reading, classroom discussions, or inspiring the next generation of ocean protectors. It’s a story for young readers, parents, and anyone who’s ever dreamed of helping the ocean stay clean.”
That was a description of the children’s book I wrote this summer, My Blue Ocean. The story was inspired by my internship at the Blue Ocean Discovery Center and the many curious people I met there. It was also inspired by my younger cousin, Susie, who spent nearly every beach day with me exploring tide pools and learning about the ocean. Further, it was also inspired by living on the Seacoast and experiencing firsthand just how powerful the ocean can feel. Being near it and feeling its power is what first inspired me to get involved in ocean conservation.
This past week, Joshua and I hosted a book reading for faculty families and children at our school after dinner. The turnout was amazing, with about twenty-five people, and the energy in the room was filled with excitement and curiosity. After reading the book, we discussed the inspiration behind it and the importance of protecting our oceans.
A few days later, one of the girls who attended the reading spotted me as she was biking around campus. She yelled my name and told me that she and her brother had already read My Blue Ocean “about fifty times,” since Monday. Another friend messaged me to say she’d bought the book for her younger cousin, who loved it so much that the next day, she wanted to play a game in the pool where they “pretended to clean the ocean.”
Moments like these remind me why I wrote My Blue Ocean. I wanted to help children learn about ocean conservation in a friendly and creative way, hoping to spark an early love and incentive to protect our oceans. Seeing the community support Joshua and me, and watching children connect with the story, has been the most rewarding part. My goal was not to overwhelm kids with facts or warnings, but to plant a seed of awareness. I wanted to inspire curiosity, compassion, and a desire to protect the ocean in their own small ways.
We have also connected with the Glen Urquhart School and will host a reading and talk with the sixth-grade class there in December. Seeing My Blue Ocean reach young readers makes me excited to keep writing, teaching, and learning about the environment. I hope to keep finding creative ways to connect people with the ocean, whether through books or volunteering, and to inspire the next generation.
You can purchase My Blue Ocean here on Amazon! All proceeds go to The Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation.
