Grief can sometimes feel like being caught in the jaws of a great white shark.

J.C., who goes by the nickname Sharky, has been having a hard time ever since his best friend died in front of him in a what might or might not have been an accident. Shell-shocked, Sharky spends countless hours holed up in his room, obsessively watching documentaries about sharks and climate change—and texting his dead friend.

At her wits end, Sharky’s mom sends him to visit his father on an abandoned island in Canada, where his dad is the caretaker. Over the course of an unforgettable summer, Sharky gets to know his dad . . . and he meets a girl who teaches him how to shows him how to live—and love—again.