Seven Tears at High Tide

by C. B. Lee

Overview

The sea holds many secrets. Kevin Luong walks to the ocean's edge with a broken heart. Remembering a legend his mother told him, he lets seven tears fall into the sea. "I just want one summer-one summer to be happy and in love." Instead, he finds himself saving a mysterious boy from the Pacific-a boy who later shows up on his doorstep professing his love. What he doesn't know is that Morgan is a selkie, drawn to answer Kevin's wish. As they grow close, Morgan is caught between the dangers of the human world and his legacy in the selkie community to which he must return at summer's end.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781941530474
Publisher:	Chicago Review Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	10/01/2015
Edition description:	None
Pages:	234
Product dimensions:	5.75(w) x 8.75(h) x 0.30(d)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

Editorial Reviews

10/01/2015
Gr 9 Up—When 16-year-old Kevin sits on the beach wishing for an idyllic summer love, he has no idea that the sea is listening. A family of selkies nearby decide to send Morgan, their half-human, half-selkie son, to fulfill Kevin's request. For Morgan, falling in love is easy. The hard part is navigating the human world he has so long avoided and understanding what it will mean when the summer ends and he is expected to return to the sea. Lee's first novel suffers from clunky exposition, too many subplots, and a mythology that doesn't hold up very well. In particular, it is difficult to believe Morgan so easily passes as a human, despite having no home or phone, being incredibly confused in everyday situations, and owning only one piece of clothing. The writing often feels rushed or lazy, using vague stereotypes to fill out exposition and one-dimensional side characters to move the story along when convenient. Despite these failings, the central romance is sweet, even endearing, with issues like sex and love approached with sincerity and minimal drama. The difficulties of a same-sex relationship are not ignored (Kevin, who is Asian American and openly bisexual, mentions being bullied at school and used by a closeted classmate), but the book largely approaches it like any other romance. VERDICT An additional purchase for libraries looking to diversify their LGBTQ romance collection.—Amy Diegelman, Vineyard Haven Public Library, MA

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