Moonglass by Jessi Kirby

From Jessi Kirby, a debut novel about confronting the past in order to move ahead.

I read once that water is a symbol for emotions. And for a while now, I've thought maybe my mother drowned in both.

Anna's life is upended when her father accepts a job transfer the summer before her junior year. It's bad enough that she has to leave her friends and her life behind, but her dad is moving them to the beach where her parents first met and fell in love- a place awash in memories that Anna would just as soon leave under the surface.

While life on the beach is pretty great, with ocean views and one adorable lifeguard in particular, there are also family secrets that were buried along the shore years ago. And the ebb and flow of the ocean's tide means that nothing- not the sea glass that she collects on the sand and not the truths behind Anna's mother's death- stays buried forever.
     Sea glass and mermaids take on a whole new meaning in this touching and heartbreaking story of the effects of suicide and what it leaves behind. Anna Ryan is a confident teenage girl who moving away from the place where her mother drowned and to a place with more stories than she knows. Moon glass was a wonderful mix of genres and emotions. It was not at all what I expected it to be and that made it all the more better. Anna keeps to herself and has a fascination with looking for sea glass, a hobby passed down from her mother. Anna is an example of smiling on the outside and crying on the inside. She is very sure of herself and makes friends easily, but her voice and inside thoughts are deep and hurt. She has flashbacks that help her to truly understand what her seven-year-old self couldn't.
     The best things and most helpful thing to Anna's growth is her friends and family. There was her Dad who hid things from her to try to protect her, but was hurting also. There was Tyler whom she liked and was there for her. Jillian, who she could relate to and Ashley, who was more than what meets the eye. All these people were awesome supporting characters who played their parts well. They built Anna up and listened, just listened when she needed to talk. All of them were there for her and will probably never understand how much they helped her.
     Moonglass which is a term made up by Anna to mean sea glass found during a full moon has come to mean many things, to me, and to Anna. The subject matter of this book is heart wrenching and tearful, but the outcome makes it greatly inspiring. A tough adversity to overcome, a determined protagonist, and the people who help her. A wonderful story.