Sea by Heidi R. Kling

Sea:
Haunted by recurring nightmares since her mother’s disappearance over the Indian ocean three years before, fifteen-year old California girl Sienna Jones reluctantly travels with her psychiatrist father’s volunteer team to six-months post-tsunami Indonesia where she meets the scarred and soulful orphaned boy, Deni, who is more like Sea than anyone she has ever met.

She knows they can’t be together, so why can’t she stay away from him? And what about her old best friend-turned-suddenly-hot Spider who may or may not be waiting for her back home? And why won’t her dad tell her the truth about her mother’s plane crash? The farther she gets from home, the closer she comes to finding answers.


Heidi R. Kling is an amazingly talented writer who wrote a beautiful, emotional journey about a girl named Sienna Jones. Heidi broke my heart and then she sewed it back together by the end of the book. Three years ago Sienna's mother went missing when her small plane disappeared over the Indian ocean and Sienna still suffers from night terrors. She turned away from everything she once loved including the sea and pulled away from her friends. Her father, well known for his volunteer work abroad helping victims to overcome and deal with their Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, decides that it's time for him to get back into the field. And this time he wants Sienna to come. Faced with the idea of getting on an airplane, and actually flying across the ocean absolutely terrifies Sienna, and at first she refuses. With the help of her friend Spider, who has had feelings for her, but gave her space after she lost her mother, and after watching a video of the children who had survived the 2004 tsunami in the orphanage, she realizes that it is fate and the time has come for her to face one of her fears. At the orphanage, Sienna meets Deni, a seventeen year old boy who immediately attracts something deep within Sienna. Deni teaches Sienna about his culture as the two grow closer together, Deni learns that a member of his family might have survived and he needs to return to the ruins of his home to find him. Risking everything, they travel together in search of Deni's missing family. Sienna and Deni are falling deeper in love, but what meets them at the end of their search is completely unexpected. The beautiful ending of this book is one I'll remember for years to come, watching Sienna grow and develop her inner strength throughout the book was inspirational. And I can only hope that you pick this truly amazing book up the next time you see it and love Sienna's journey as much as I did.