Alienated from her mother, 13-year-old Lexi Jordan adopts her neo-Nazi friends as her family. Then she meets Ursula, a former Nazi who reminds her of her grandmother. Through their growing friendship, Lexi gradually acknowledges to herself that she does not believe in the hateful tenents of her skinhead friends. Even though it means loneliness and danger, Lexi resolves to leave the group and seek her identity elsewhere.

This book is an amazing story and I loved it. This is so cool because of its similarity to life. This could happen to anyone! If you are interested in WWII and the Nazi's then this is the book for you. The author never had any low points in the story, I could't stop reading this book! I always fell asleep with it in my hands because the author make you keep wanting to read more and more to find out what is going to happen next. Great book.

I'm a school social worker who knows kids from many different backgrounds. I think THE SPIDERS WEB is a good story with strong lessons about making mistakes that might not be 'fixable'. Besides teaching middle and high school kids about the reality of anti-semitism and neo-naziam, it will interest almost any kid who has gotten into dangerous or frightening situations because they're at a low point in their life. It's ideal for reluctant readers because it's highly interesting and very readable. It would be a good addition to any Holocaust curriculum.

This was another one of those book discussion books. Reccomended to me by a close friend, I picked up The Ocean Within by V. M. Caldwell. This book tells the wonderful story of Elizabeth, an orphan who has been shipped around from foster family to foster family. Finally, Elizabeth meets the Sheridans, a family who wants to adopt her. However, Elizabeth shuts out all the love that the family gives her, when she spends a month with all the kids of the family, because of the great emotional loss that she has suffered. Even 4-year-old Petey, who calls her Turtle to remind him of her shyness, can't completely break down the barrier that stands between Elizabeth and the rest of the world. Even the ocean, the one thing Elizabeth always dreamed of, doesn't make her happy enough to break through her shell. This was the first book I had read about this type of experience, and I found it to be quite touching and revealing. Caldwell wrote this book in a fantastic fashion, showing the true emotions of Elizabeth and all of the Sheridans. This book was phenomanal, and I would openly recommend this book to any and all young adults looking for a good read.

The Ocean Within is an amazing story about a young girl who knows what it is like to be givin up. When Elizabeth is sent to another foster home she has givin up all hope that she will ever have a real family again. Elizabeths summer vacation starts when she is sent by her new parents to meet her new cousins and new grandmother. Her grandmother lives near the ocean. When she first arrives at the ocean she is quiet and unliked by her brothers and sisters. But that doesn't matter to her because she wants to see the ocean. Through out this book Elizabeth will live through many events that are breath taking and dangerous.

A wonderful book for any child who has had to make big adjustments in his or her life!

Elizabeth Lawson is a foster child, and the warm, vital, and noisy Sheridans are her third family placement. When she agrees to let them adopt her, she knows that she will eventually be sent to another home, but the Sheridans have something she wants: a chance to see the ocean. She travels with the family to their grandmother's and is soon swamped by the profusion of siblings and cousins around her who, for reasons Elizabeth can't comprehend, seem to think she's one of them. The brood is presided over by Iron Woman, a disturbing and perceptive threat to Elizabeth's armor of emotional distance. As the summer advances, Elizabeth resists the Sheridan's efforts to make her a part of their family, because she knows that caring for any family when you will eventually have to leave them is a mistake. It is only with Iron Woman's firm and persistent kindness and discipline, and the friendship of the youngest Sheridan, Petey, that Elizabeth's shell begins to crack. This is a wonderfully written book. Caldwell captures exactly the need of a child to protect herself by refusing to connect, as well as Elizabeth's genuine bafflement at the loving way she is treated. The prose is easy to handle and the descriptions of the Sheridans make them very real and three-dimensional to the reader. A definite must-read for older kids, this book can be handled by anyone in 4th or 5th grade up to 12th, depending on their interest and reading ability.

5 stars! * * * * *

Although this sequel was eagerly awaited, it did not live up to its expectations. 'The Ocean Within" chronicled real human emotion, but Tides existed merely to point out that families break up. Caldwell failed to portray her characters as realistically as in the prequel, and was often sidetracked by her theme of environmental conservation. All of this detracted from the substance of the book. However, I'm sure we can expect better works from this author in the future.

Of course, this review is based mostly on my reading of her first book "The Ocean Within". This is throughly a good book, has an interesting plot, and is very descriptive. There were just a few things that I found slightly annoying: Caldwell's tendency to backtrack and cover material missed in the first book (it happened a lot) and the way she veered off on something seemingingly irrevelent to what you were reading--and then you had to read the paragraph before that puzzling passage four times to understand what she meant (exactly like this statement). Other than that, Caldwell's work was beautiful. She knew what she was doing--she stuck with her story all the way through, and Elizabeth's character was cleverly brought out. I expect I'll be reading more from her. Keep up the good work!

This sequel to The Ocean Within is compelling reading. The teen-aged drama that rocks an entire family is tackled with keen understanding. Caldwell brings us to the centre of the Sheridan tribe through the eyes of the Elizabeth, herself a new arrival to the group. Adam's loss of his close friends precipitates an angry, hurt, and confused withdrawal that is captured perfectly in his actions, as well as in the confusion and discord of those around him. The family storm that follows Adam's retreat is painfully realistic. While there is a tentative reconciliation at the end of the book, it is neither facile nor sentimental. It rings true to life, concluding the story on a positive and credible note.

Some people may object to the word "devil" in this book, but they shouldn't let it put them off. This story has been in Norwegian folklore for centuries. Erica learned it and many others at her Norwegian father's knee. Translating it into English, and illustrating it were second nature to her. This book is good for children because it's a very powerful thing for children to see youngsters outwit a "bad person", yet it avoids the TV trend of children outwitting their parents! It is good for parents because both the story and the illustrations give them opportunities to have deeper discussions with their children.