Murray Out of Water, by Taylor Trcy.  Published by Quill Tree Books, 2024

This novel told entirely in first person poetry and verse, is about twelve-year-old Murray O’Shea who lives with her family in the home her mom grew up in on the Atlantic Ocean shoreline in Lavallette, New Jersey.  The back deck stairs of this home descend right onto the beach.  Her name Murray, was her great-grandma’s last name, and means “from the land by the sea.”  Murray absolutely loves the ocean and everything about it.   Every chance she gets, she’s walking along the shore in flip-flops, collecting sea glass, learning facts about ocean creatures, and tumbling in the waves.  Why does Murray love the ocean so much?  It could be because the ocean never makes Murray apologize for being exactly who she is—something her overbearing parents refuse to do—and it could also be because of a secret magic that Murray shares with the ocean. Though she can’t explain its presence, there is an electric buzz that she feels from her fingertips down to her toes whenever she is by the ocean, that allows her to become one with the ocean and all its creatures, and this secret magic makes Murray feel powerful and seen in a way she never feels on land.

But then a hurricane hits the Jersey shore causing massive destruction and sending the O’Shea family far inland to live with Aunt Maureen, Uncle Jack, and a teenager cousin until their seaside home can be rebuilt. Being far from the ocean Murray feels that she is losing her magic.  And being stuck in a crowded house with her family, she can no longer avoid the truths she’s discovering about herself—like how awkward she feels in the girlie feminine clothes her mom insists that her wear.

Here is one of Murray’s poems called Bodies from Part I of this novel:

Bodies

On the beach,

I’ve seen every type

of body under the sun.

I like mine how it is

right now—

Mom has talked to me about

how I will become a woman soon.

Mrs. Green, our health teacher,

taught us about puberty and periods

two years ago –

I don’t want my body to change,

don’t want my body to make it harder

for me to swim.

Sometimes I look at Kelly (older sister) and

worry when I’m a teenager,

I’ll look more like her.

It’s not that I want to look like Patrick (older brother),

which is what I worry Mom would say

if I told her or my doctor how I feel –

that if I don’t want to look like a girl

then I must want to look like a boy.

I want to look like me.

I’m scared of what puberty

Will do to me –

How it will change the ways I move, think, look,

How I see myself in the mirror.

I want more time to figure

Out where I fit.

Thankfully, this book is not all hurricanes and heartache. Murray’s teenage cousin, who she now shares a bedroom with, confides “Could you please call me Blake and not Laura?  I’m trying it out.  I use they and them pronouns now but still use she and her sometimes.  I just don’t like those as much.”  When Murray’s parents decide that Murray will stay and live with her aunt, uncle and cousin for the remainder of the school year while they leave to get their home repaired, Murray is overwhelming by a sense of relief.  Aunt Maureen and Uncle Jack are supportive and protective of Blake and Murray, reassuring Murray that their home is a safe space for her.

Murray will thrive with her new “found family” and the larger more inclusive middle school where she will attend classes for the remainder of the school year.  In the coastal town of Lavallette, New Jersey, where Murray has lived her entire life, there were only twelve kids in her grade, that she has known forever, and none were ever a best friend.  More happiness comes when Murray befriends a boy named Dylan at Big Pete’s Roller-rama, the local roller rink where kids hang out after school.  Dylan, who first appears zipping around the roller rink wearing a silver sequined vest over a magenta t-shirt has magic of his own.  When Murray agrees to partner with him for a youth roller-rama competition in exchange for Dylan helping Murray get her magic back, the two forge an unstoppable bond—one that shows Murray how it’s not always the family you were given that makes you feel whole…sometimes it’s the family you build along the way.

Murray Out of Water was a 2025 Stonewall Book Award Nominee for Children’s Literature.  Sponsored by the American Library Association’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Round Table, this award honors books for their exceptional merit relating to the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender experience.

Taylor Tracy (she,her) writes books filled with humor and heart that explore the joys and hopes of queer kids, focusing on mental health, found family, and the importance of a sense of community.  She writes, “I believe that all kids should have the chance to be the heroes of their own stories.”  She lives in New Jersey with her family, including a “fluffle” of mischievous rescue bunnies.  Visit her online at taylorismyfirstname.com.

This book review was submitted by Stand with Trans
advocate Barb Shumer, who is a past board member and
retired public librarian..