A Day at the Beach by Gary Schmidt and Ron Koertge

A Day at the Beach delivers on its title: snapshots of a variety of 11-13 year-olds during a single day on the Jersey shore.

A Day at the Beach by Gary Schmidt and Ron Koertge. Clarion (HarperCollins), 2025, 213 pages.

Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12

Recommended for: ages 12-14

Can you smell it? A weedy, fishy tang salts the air as siblings Jackie and Simon take their early-morning run along Rockcastle Beach. Two hours later, the visitors come—local residents mostly. A large family performs as an impromptu circus for pocket change, a stray dog searches for a home, a lonely, only child is on the lookout for friends. And Tobias has just lost his phone. Not any old phone: It’s an iPhone Infinity Plus, so new it’s not even on the market yet. His dad, who has amazing tech-company connections, has given it to him as a reward for dropping from XXX Large to Large at Fat Camp. And now it’s lost!

Tobias is not the main character; there are no main characters, though some of them will loop into the stories of others and some will connect in surprising ways. Some have no cares and others are burdened. Mike has just lost his grandfather. Sam is watching his dad waste away from cancer. Ralphy longs to be better than his twin brother at anything. And Otavio has lost his swimsuit.

Everybody on the beach has a story, many of them reflecting the peculiar joys of a sunny day at the beach. Many perspectives march through these pages, not all of which will complement a Christian worldview. One character is nonbinary and several misuse God’s name. But the sun shines down on all, a silent witness to a world full of mysteries and joys as well as sorrows. Tobias reappears at the end (does he find his phone?), Jackie and Simon return for an evening run, and the sun goes down.

Consideration:

Language cautions, including about 5 misuses of God’s name and a few mild vulgarities such as the a—word.

Bottom Line: An entertaining and thoughtful slice-of-life survey of many lives and backstories.

Also at Redeemed Reader

• Reviews: Many books by Gary Schmidt. Two of our favorites are The Labors of Hercules Beale and Pay Attention, Carter Jones. In Shakespeare Bats Cleanup by Ron Koertge, a boy works out his issues through the medium of poetry—and baseball.
• Reflection: See our interview with Gary Schmidt.
• Resource: Are you headed to the beach this summer? Check out our librarians list of Beach Books!

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