Ocean
Italian, Einaudi Ragazzi, 2025
“’What is it?’ asked Milo, pointing to another bubble.
‘I have no idea!’ said Alice, trying to make her voice sound reassuring.
She really didn’t know. More bubbles reached the surface. Milo grabbed her hand.
‘But what is it?’ he said.
‘I told you, I don’t know!’ said Alice, this time betraying a hint of anxiety. They held their breath and for a few minutes nothing more came from the ocean.”
“A wave lifted the prow of the dinghy, which fell back into the sea without capsizing. They hit another wave. The thunder erupted in Milo’s ears. One water bottle fell into the sea, the other hit Alice’s side. Panic rising inside her—and Milo—she gripped the bottle tight to prevent it following the other overboard. She did the same with the bait, not caring if it hurt her, because it was the last thing left she could protect.”
An explosion in the night. A boat in flames. Two brothers adrift. How long can they survive?
A gripping survival novel for children aged 10 and up that explores the power of imagination, and the strength of the bond between siblings.
Alice and Milo, alone on a dinghy in the middle of the ocean, must survive on a few biscuits and a lot of ingenuity. Amid shark sightings and storms threatening to throw them overboard, Alice will do anything to protect her little brother, turning everything into a game. But how long can they endure? A fiction book for children aged ten and up that explores the boundaries of survival, the theme of mourning, the power of the imagination but, above all, the strength of love between siblings.
- Title
- Oceano
- Publisher
- Einaudi Ragazzi
- Translation rights
- Mara Nascimben, nascimben@edizioniel.it
- Publication date
- 2025
- Pages
- 96
- ISBN
- 978-88-6656-858-2
Author
Gionata Bernasconi
Gionata Bernasconi (born 1970), lives in Bellinzona, Switzerland. A writer of children’s fiction, he works part-time for the ARES foundation (Fondazione ARES), an autism consultancy body. A graduate of IRFAT (Institute for Research and Training in Art Therapy) in Avignon, he also teaches educators about creativity and its possible applications in education.
Photo: © Paola Valchera