The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

I’d heard rave reviews about this book, so I grabbed it from the library. It’s the story of a middle aged man in need of a little jolt of happiness. Don’t we all need that about right now?

Linus Baker works for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth. His no nonsense approach to his job places him as the best person to review six magical children. His supervisors’ praise him for his thorough and balanced reports and feel he is the best person for the job. So, he and his cat, Calliope, leave for a month in search of the truth. What will he find?

Normally, his job is to identify orphanages that are not working, not really deal with the issues of tolerance. But, he begins to soften after getting to know his charges, even if one of the them is Satan. These magical creatures don’t give him a choice. He decides they should not be dismissed for their differences. They live on an island isolated from the closest town. Their master, Arthur Parnassus, advocates for these children but may find his own secrets revealed. And Linus begins to feel this may be his true family.

All in all it’s a good read but sanctimonious at times. But, hey…in these turbulent times, its good to read a message of love and acceptance.

“Change often starts with the smallest of whispers. Like-minded people building it up to a roar.”
― T.J. Klune, The House in the Cerulean Sea Sea

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

A man returns to his childhood home after attending a funeral. He remembers his life on this farm. As a young boy his parents had to let their house to renters, because they had no money. It was the first time he felt scared but wouldn’t be the last time. One renter died. That’s when he meets Lettie Hempstock and her family.

She and her family protect him from the evil that begins. Ursula Monkton, a supernatural person disguised as a human, arrives. She is evil which in the narrator’s point of view, further stresses the point that adults or any authority figure can be scary. But Lettie explains to him that adults are just children in bigger bodies. They are scared just like them.

Years later or so he thinks, he returns to visit the Hempstocks. He realizes he must visit them when he’s in need of compassion and his life is out of control. He doesn’t remember earlier visits, but Old Mrs. Hempstock reminds him. As an adult, he realizes it’s the people who have helped him throughout his life. Those people whom we never forget, they are locked away in our memories. And as for Lettie she is not gone, she is also checking on him to see if her greatest sacrifice was worth it.

“Nobody looks like what they really are on the inside. You don’t. I don’t. People are much more complicated than that. It’s true of everybody.”

― Neil Gaiman, The Ocean at the End of the Lane