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Odd Sea

by Frederick Reiken

ISBN: 0151003602
ISBN-13: 9780151003600
Format: Hardcover

Summary

Set in the western Massachusetts hilltown of Cummington, this poignant debut novel is the story of Philip Shumway, who recalls the summer when he was 13 and his adored, musically talented older brother, Ethan, disappeared, never to be seen again. The tragedy forever alters the family, and the events of that year ultimately inspire Philip to become a writer as he seeks to understand the significance of what happened.

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Media Reviews

"The importance of the arts in the lives of humans is well observed in ways that are not didactic, and the richness, difficulty, and variability of a loving family is similarly shown."    -- Judith Kicinski

   -- Library Journal

"It's hard to believe that a writer as young as Frederick Reiken could write such a sublime and accomplished first novel. I will never forget this book. Those who believe the novel to be a dead art form will find, in 'The Odd Sea', an art so lambent with life, they'll need to wear their shades to read it."    -- Reginald McKnight

Bibliographic Details

Publisher: Harcourt
Published date: 1998
Size: 5.75 x 8.5 inches
Weight: 0.85 pounds
Pages: 201

Publisher's Notes

It's a sunny, late spring morning when sixteen-year-old Ethan Shumway walks down his driveway, turns the bend, and vanishes without a trace. A gifted athlete and musician, he leaves a wake of family and friends desperately searching for him and trying to make sense of what has happened. But it is through the eyes of Philip, Ethan's younger brother, that the story of The Odd Sea unfolds. It is Philip who will turn your heart: smart, funny, emotionally wise yet somewhat lost as he grapples with what his family calls the Odd Sea - the unfathomable place where people and things go when they disappear. Philip wandering around "not-finding" Ethan, smelling his insomniac mother's midnight baking, watching his father fall apart and put himself back together. Philip seeking out Ethan's girlfriend, Melissa, Philip confronting Victoria, Ethan's equivocal and sexually radiant mentor. Philip observing the world with a savvy that will break your heart and with a level of feeling that is almost irresistible.

Other Editions

Hardcover - Harcourt (1998) - from $1.00
Paperback - Bantam Dell Pub Group (1999) - from $1.18

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The Odd Sea

Reiken, Frederick

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