A Friendly Town That’s Almost Always by the Ocean! Review

If Phoebe from Friends started a business relationship with Monica, where they’d write a book, the end result might be something like A Friendly Town That’s Almost Always by the Ocean!. The is quirky with a capital “Q” and geared towards middle school readers. Think of this as a book that’s perfectly suited towards fans of Lumberjanes or Adventure Time, but want something more (slightly) grounded in reality, with characters that skew evenly towards boys and girls.

A Friendly Town That’s Almost Always by the Ocean! is written by Kir Fox and M. Shelley Coats. They’re pseudonyms for Kirsten Hubbard and Michelle Schusterman, two middle grade and young adult authors who have teamed up for this book about a town where the ordinary is the exemption. Having said that, it’s not otherworldly or something that kids won’t be able to relate to. Rather, this is a book about change, new circumstances, being different and able to roll with the punches that life throws your way.

Davy is the new kid in Topsea. As you might have guessed, Topsea is a friendly town, that’s almost always by the ocean, it’s also full of seemingly odd happenings. The Topsea Pier has no end in sight, rubber ducks are suspect, cats are more aggressive than other areas, dogs don’t exist and seaweed is a fact of life.

If you’re looking for a linear real-life story about pre-teens looking for love, this is not the quirky cul-de-sac for you. We read Soda Pop recently and that book was similar to this, except much more avant garde (See: confusing).  A Friendly Town That’s Almost Always by the Ocean! has character development, creative scenes and situations that pre-teens will encounter, with a side of monsters and friendly pigs.

The book also has parts that are presented in a way that will appeal to those who are familiar with Wimpy Kid or Captain Underpants. Some of the chapters are written in standard book form, with a character or situation driving the narrative. Other, shorter chapters are presented as more of an aside that help readers realize the absurdity and chaos; that is accepted as normal in Topsea. These are usually done  in a memo format or mock weather bulletin from the newspaper.

School is kind of normal for Davy, except for the fact that his friends have miniature pet pigs that grown up to be hogs or literally write down each question they hear. So, his friends are weird like your friends. But also in Topsea there are days where gravity can stop happening, masses of black spiders appear on the beach and don’t forget about the troll under the pier.

A Friendly Town That’s Almost Always by the Ocean! is leisure reading for middle school grade at its trippiest base. There is nothing deviant or anti-social about Topsea, it’s just chaotic and different, but the residents don’t notice that anything is off, until Davy arrives. And then, Davy and the reader is thrown  afoot wondering if it’s he that isn’t normal?

Middle school kids looking for a fun, escapist journey will enjoy A Friendly Town That’s Almost Always by the Ocean. There’s a covert page at the end of the book that promises more left of center kidlit tales from Topsea and they’ll be just the sort of 3-hour tour that kids will want to sign up for.