Safe Harbor

Reviewed by Julia Copeland

May 1, 2025

By Padma Venkatraman. Nancy Paulsen Books, 2025. 176 pages. $17.99/hardcover; $10.99/eBook. Recommended for ages 10–12.

In this novel in verse, Geetha and her mother move from India to Rhode Island. Geetha’s parents have separated, and she must leave behind her father, her grandparents, her dog, and her books. All she can bring is what she can carry on the plane. Her heart is as heavy as her bags are light. She is angry with her mother for uprooting her and bringing her to a place where she feels she doesn’t fit in.

One day at the beach, Geetha finds an injured seal pup that has washed up on the shore and has a fishing line wrapped tightly around its neck. Geetha and her new friend Miguel help save the seal pup with a rescue team from the local marine mammal stranding network. Through Venkatraman’s poetic language, readers can almost feel the weight of Geetha’s anger and sadness and then its shedding over the course of the story: she makes new friends, cares for the seal, strengthens her relationship with her mother, and discovers who she wants to be in this new and different place.

Safe Harbor is a story of community and stewardship. Geetha is amazed at the amount of litter on the beach and mobilizes neighbors and classmates to do a clean up to prevent more animals from being injured like Santo, the seal. Bullied by “shiny-smile girl” at her new school, Geetha uses her activism to find like-minded students who become friends. Geetha unfolds and blossoms, paralleling Santo’s recovery.

I was fortunate to meet Padma Venkatraman through a Penguin Young Readers event in Boston, Mass., in the fall of 2024. At the time, I did not realize how much of her life is in the book. She is very open about how her own depression informed that of Geetha’s mother (Amma). One of my favorite things about this book is the open dialogue that happens between Geetha and her Amma, about Amma’s mental health and self-care. This is a rare thing to find in middle-grade novels, and Venkatraman weaves it in beautifully. I did not know until I read the book that Venkatraman also has a PhD in marine science. She effortlessly infuses her knowledge, experience, love, and joy into this inspiring story.

Julia Copeland teaches at Greene Street Friends School in Philadelphia, Pa.