House in the Cerulean Sea, The

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All of the children are unique, from Sal who is nervous at the thought of meeting with and being around new people and, when startled, transforms into a Pomeranian to Talia, a confident green-fingered garden gnome who spends her time threatening harm to those who cause her offence. J. Klune fan, as I'm sure many of you are, I know you are asking yourself what this book will be like now that T. Together, that’s exactly what Linus, Arthur, Zoe – the keeper of the island – and the 6 children, learn to do.

So, of course Linus' heart grows three sizes, and he has to learn to stop being such a rule-follower and start actually standing up for a principle. The environment is endearing, the characters are nicely described, and the story flows smoothly with good pacing and wonderful writing.At this point it is confirmed that the main theme is “even if you are unusual/a bit fat/everyone thinks you’re evil, you are a good person, accept yourself as you are. Being queer himself, TJ believes it's important—now more than ever—to have accurate, positive, queer representation in stories. This is a sweet narrative about the value of asking questions and the benefits of giving people (especially children) a chance to be safe, protected, and themselves, regardless of what assumptions one might glean from, say, reading their case file. I can’t tell you how much I relish stories that don’t believe that blood makes a family, but that kin is the circle you create, hands held tight. Love and kindness virtually radiate from Klune’s words and ever so tenderly spiral around you like a soft, warm blanket.

TJ Klune has so far written 29 novels, most of them focusing on the LGBTQ+ community, with many of them written in the fantasy genre. And much to his astonishment, he also discovers a quiet yearning within his own heart for a life he never even knew he wanted. Linus must live with them for a month, reporting back to DICOMY, and decide if the orphanage should stay open.

Then one day, Linus is summoned by Extremely Upper Management and given a highly classified assignment. I didn't find it very funny, there didn't seem to be any lurking themes that weren't outright told to you, and it's a book where Nothing Bad Ever Happens. He has been put in a situation that is so far out of his comfort zone, but slowly he adjusts and before long the children and Arthur have pushed their way into his heart.

Being queer himself, TJ believes it's important-now more than ever-to have accurate, positive, queer representation in stories. In fact, knowing this is a standalone, and there are no more books to come in this wonderful world is the novel’s only disappointment. Finally, after years of sitting in the shadows, spending time with his cat and the records he plays on his Victrola, he has been given the opportunity to see the water, visit the beach and get out of the stifling office where rules are paramount. The children especially, with their funny and exuberant antics, really grabbed my heart and refused to let go.

And that’s kind of the theme of the whole book is, is to raise your voice for those who don’t have one. The only negative reviews I read for the book were the ones about TJ Klune using Canada's Sixties Scoop as inspiration for the book, and I won't even get into that here.

This story is full of passionate, unique individuals and I love every moment I spend reading their story. The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune is an uplifting, heart-warming fantasy tale that’s become a New York Times, USA Today and Washington Post bestseller. He is a dedicated caseworker for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth; he knows every word of its RULES AND REGULATIONS by heart. But yes, those are the grown-up details that only occur after you finish reading it, or when you have to go back to real life and pay the insurance bill or something like that. TJ KLUNE is a Lambda Literary Award-winning author (Into This River I Drown) and an ex-claims examiner for an insurance company.

But I came across something known as the Sixties Scoop, which was in Canada during the fifties and sixties, where indigenous children were taken from their homes and put into government sanctioned orphanages, for lack of a better word. this, to me, felt emotionally cheap and profoundly repetitive, as if enacting the same set of scenes where the characters show the same set of traits over and over would hypnotize me into falling in love with them. These children are different and, therefore, for some reason, must be treated as outcasts by those who are considered normal. TJ Klune is extremely good at setting the scene for the reader and the description is so vivid that I immediately felt drawn to the island of Marsayas and the people who live there. Management hires him for a top secret mission: they want him to investigate Marysas Island Orphanage where six extremely dangerous kids reside: a gnome, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, a sprite and an baby Lucy Morningstar!