Review SEA by Heidi Kling

SEA by Heidi Kling

Published June 10th 2010 by Putnam Juvenile

Hardcover, 336 pages

Placement in Pile:
Middle of the Stack to possibly Reaching New Heights

Summary:
Haunted by recurring nightmares since her mother’s disappearance over the Indian ocean three years before, fifteen-year old California girl Sienna Jones reluctantly travels with her psychiatrist father’s volunteer team to six-months post-tsunami Indonesia where she meets the scarred and soulful orphaned boy, Deni, who is more like Sea than anyone she has ever met.

She knows they can’t be together, so why can’t she stay away from him? And what about her old best friend-turned-suddenly-hot Spider who may or may not be waiting for her back home? And why won’t her dad tell her the truth about her mother’s plane crash? The farther she gets from home, the closer she comes to finding answers.
And Sea’s real adventure begins.

Review:
I'm so torn on this book. I liked it so much that I read it in one sitting. (And believe me, lately that hasn't been happening a lot. But, we'll talk about those books another day).



So what hooked me? It was the prologue. While I'm in the throws of writing my own novel, I've read articles, and heard from many agents and publishers that prologues are out. They're old business. Well, if I thought that once, I don't any more. Heidi Kling rocked the prologue in a seriously intriguing way. The one page entry hooked me, line and sinker, baby.


Unfortunately, when I reached the end of the novel, I found that the prologue that spurred me to reading the entire book (no potty breaks, nothing), no longer made sense. And that, my friends, is something that didn't work for me. So, in truth (ha, can you tell I've been reading a lot of regency too lately?), I loved 90% of the novel.


I also give props to Ms. Kling for tackling the cultural differences between Americans and Indonesians in a light, fun, and witty way.


My suggestion, go out and read this one.