Delightfully Uncomfortable and Perfectly Tender: ‘The House in the Cerulean Sea’ by TJ Klune

Whether it’s because of what I’ve been reading lately, or what writers have been writing, I haven’t cried during a book (multiple times!) for a very long time. ‘The House in the Cerulean Sea’ by TJ Klune will bring tears to your eyes for all the right reasons.

This story feels like a parable, except the teachers, or rather mentor figures, are comically authentic children, residents of the Marsyas Orphanage, and the student is a 40-something caseworker who needs to live a little. This story is what you wish Disney could be—woke enough to have an overtly gay protagonist and irreverent enough to make the Antichrist likeable.

This novel is character driven, and Klune has found a way to bring out both the child and adult in his characters. You will feel ‘all the things’ along with them—mischievous, indignant, curious, joyful, hurt, frightened, cared for, and loved. Don’t be surprised if you hug this book fiercely when you’re done with it.

Given the fantastical nature of this book, you can almost hear Camille Saint-Saëns’ ‘The Carnival of the Animals’ as a soundtrack to this story.

The idiosyncratic characters are reflected in the tone of each movement. It’s said the composer, “intended to write the work for his students” (Wikipedia) and as such, you could pretend the songs were written for the children of the Marsyas Orphanage. This is not to say the children are like animals, they are not, and they experience painful bigotry in the story because of their magical status. This piece of music is fun, and the children remind the protagonist that fun is necessary.

Given also that the story follows idiosyncratic, authentic, witty, mischievous children, you’d do well to eat a dirt cupcake while helping yourself to this story. After all, isn’t the idea of eating worms positively silly and delightful?

This Book Might Be Your Next Read:

• If you need to be reminded of the goodness in people
• If you’ve ever worked with children as a social worker or in any other teaching/mentoring role and loved it
• If you’ve seen “Joe Versus the Volcano” and liked it
• If you like your fantasy to feel very realistic