The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

Bibliographic Information:

• Title: The House in the Cerulean Sea
• Author: TJ Klune
• ISBN: 1250217288
• Publisher: Tor Books
• Copyright Date: March 17, 2020

Genre: Contemporary Fiction/Fantasy/LGBTQ+/YA Cross-Over

Format: Book

Awards/Honors: Alex Award Winner 2021, New York Times Best-Seller

Reading/Interest Level: General Adult (Baker & Taylor Titlesource360)

Plot Summary: When Linus Baker, a Case Worker for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth (DICOMY), was summoned to appear before Extremely Upper Management, he had no idea that his life was about to change forever. Linus, who had been living a simple, quiet life, was being sent on a classified assignment to report his findings on an orphanage on Marsyas Island. But his was no ordinary orphanage- this one housed six dangerous magical children. The master of the orphanage was the charming Arthur Parnassus, who would do anything to keep the children safe.

Upon his arrival to the island, Linus encountered the magical children. There is Talia, a fierce garden gnome, who threatens to bury Linus in her garden. Chauncy, a blob with eyes and tentacles, Theodore, a wyvern (a dragon-like creature with two legs), Phee, a forest sprite, Sal, who could transform into a Pomeranian, and Lucy (short for Lucifer), a six-year-old Antichrist. As Linus gets to know Arthur and the kids, he starts to unwind and step outside his comfort zone. His four-week assignment flies by quickly as he discovers there is more to life than writing reports, wearing suits, and staying home and listening to records with his cat.

Author Background: NY Times best-selling author TJ Klune has written several books, including The House in the Cerulean Sea, The Extraordinaries, How to Be a Normal Person, and Into This River I Drown. He is asexual and likes to feature queer characters in his novels. Klune was born in Roseburg, Oregon and began writing when he was eight years old. His early writing was influenced by Stephen King and Terry Pratchett (Wikipedia, 2021). Klune is open about his asexuality and queerness and how they influence his writing. Klune feels that it is important to have “accurate, positive, queer representation in stories” (A Fistful of Awesome, N.D.)

Critical Evaluation: The House in the Cerulean Sea is a charming, well-written, fun, creative, fantasy book. The book features magical creatures, a beautiful magical island, romance, and adventure. The description of the characters is so detailed that the reader can really imagine what they look like. The characters are quirky, loveable, and very well developed. The setting, Marsyas Island, is described in beautiful detail. The reader can picture the scenery and vegetation, and smell the ocean air. The plot is fast-moving, suspenseful, and engaging. The book contains messages of hope and accepting children for who they are. It also has a romantic element that does not overshadow the rest of the book. If this book was a TV series, I would have binge-watched it. It is definitely one of the best books I have read this year.

Creative Use for a Library Program: A fun library program for The House in the Cerulean Sea would be to make clay figures of the magical creatures that live at the house. Since these characters are described in detail throughout the book but there are no illustrations, it would be fun to see how the teens picture them. They could use Sculpey clay, since it comes in bright colors, and create miniature characters. For a snack, the teens could have cinnamon rolls or one of the other fun desserts that Lucy made in the book.

Speed-Round Book Talk: Join Linus, a case worker for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth as he is sent on a classified mission to Marsyas Orphanage. Here he meets a garden gnome, a blob with tentacles and eyes, a wyvern, a boy who can turn himself into a Pomeranian, a garden sprite, and a six-year-old who is the Antichrist. The master of the orphanage, Arthur Parnassus, has secrets of his own. Discover the secrets of the island and it’s inhabitants in this charming, well-written, modern fairy tale, The House in the Cerulean Sea.

Potential Challenge Issue and Defense: Challenges for The House in the Cerulean Sea could include magic, mythical creatures, and LGBTQ+ main characters which some people might object to. A defense would be that the book is classified as an adult book, and is much tamer than other books dealing with the same subject matter. Some religious groups might object to one of the characters being the Antichrist. Since the genre of the book is fantasy, not realistic fiction or nonfiction, the defense could be that it is not real and the author is not portraying the Antichrist as real.

Reason for Inclusion: The House in the Cerulean Sea was recommended to me by several adults. When I saw that it won an Alex Award in 2021, I was curious to see what the appeal would be to young adults. The Alex Awards are given by YALSA to ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18 (ALA, 2012). This book did not disappoint. It is well-written, funny, sad, warm and cuddly, adventurous, and romantic at the same time. Teens who like light fantasy or any warm-hearted fiction will love this book. It is a quick, easy read that is hard to put down.

References:

A Fistful of Awesome. (N.D.) Biography. Retrieved from http://www.tjklunebooks.com/biography

Goodreads. (2020, May 13). Goodreads book tour: T.J. Klune. [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved fromhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DL5EZo8L9wE&ab_channel=Goodreads

Wikipedia. (2021, April 26). TJ Klune. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TJ_Klune