Swimming in the Monsoon Sea

Swimming in the Monsoon Sea

Publisher

Tundra

Publication Year

2005

ISBN

9780887767357

Pages

280 pages

Genre

realism

Format

novel

Item Type

Fiction

Annotation

Although life for Amrith in 1980 Sri Lanka seems rather uneventful and orderly, things change in a hurry when his male cousin arrives from Canada and Amrith finds himself completely enamored with his new visitor. The setting is Sri Lanka, 1980, and it is the season of monsoons. Fourteen-year-old Amrith is caught up in the life of the cheerful, well-to-do household in which he is being raised by his vibrant Auntie Bundle and kindly Uncle Lucky. He tries not to think of his life before, when his doting mother was still alive. Amrith's holiday plans seem unpromising: he wants to appear in his school's production of Othello and he is learning to type at Uncle Lucky's tropical fish business. Then, like an unexpected monsoon, his cousin arrives from Canada and Amrith's ordered life is storm-tossed. He finds himself falling in love with the Canadian boy. Othello, with its powerful theme of disastrous jealousy, is the backdrop to the drama in which Amrith finds himself immersed.

Grade Level

9-12

Diversity Topics

Family Relationships; LGBTQ (Gender and Sexuality); Legal guardianship; Gay/Lesbian; aunt and uncle raising nephew; gay; gay teenager

Main Character

male teenager

Race/Ethnicities

Asian (Sri Lankan)

Family Formation

aunt and uncle

LGBTQ+

gay male

Awards

Governor General's Literary Awards, 2005, Finalist, Children's Literature (Text English)
INDIEFAB Book of the Year Awards, 2005, Silver, Young Adult Fiction
Lambda Literary Award, 2005, Winner
Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Award, 2006, Short List, Young Adult and Middle Reader
Young Adult Book Award, 2006, Winner
Best Children's Books of the Year, 2005 Age (12 and up)
Booklist Book Review Stars, 2005
Our Choice, 2006 Young Adult Fiction
Senior High Core Collection, Seventeenth Edition, 2007
Senior High School Library Catalog, Sixteenth Edition, 2006 Supplement, 2006
YALSA Best Books for Young Adults, 2007 Fiction

Keywords

Sri Lanka; Canada; monoon; anger; cousin; wealth; sheltered childhood; grief; typing

Diversity Impact

direct

Swimming in the Monsoon Sea

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