It’s never been difficult working the same government job year after year. Sure, at this point, you’re middle aged with thinning hair and a bit of extra weight around the middle that your doctor keeps imploring you to lose. Perhaps your neighbor is a bit too nosy, and she keeps trying to set you up on a date with her very terrible nephew. But it’s not all bad. You enjoy what you do for a living. After all, you’re making a difference in the lives of magical orphans everywhere.
At least that’s what Linus Baker often thought to himself. As the protagonist of “The House in the Cerulean Sea” by T.J. Klune, Linus is relatable in some of the funniest and most authentic ways possible. Despite the fact that he’s a social worker for orphaned magical youth — that includes fairies, gnomes, shapeshifters, and even more marvelous beings — he’s really quite ordinary himself. Most of his time is spent in a cramped office, typing away on his keyboard. His personal life consists only of a neighbor he detests and a cat he rescued from underneath his porch.
However, the monotony of his everyday begins to change when he’s summoned for a meeting with Extremely Upper Management. Although he was initially quite certain he would be fired — despite his perfect and spotless record, I might add — he quickly comes to learn that he’s been assigned to assess a highly classified orphanage in the middle of the sea. All the children who live on this remote island have only one thing in common; they’re all considered extremely dangerous. Now, Linus has to spend the next month living with these peculiar children and their concerningly charming headmaster, Arthur Parnassus.
Klune has created a character that exemplifies the worker-bee mindset through his exaggerated metaphors and cheeky descriptions of the average office job. This only makes it much more satisfying to follow Linus’s journey as he begins to understand that there is so much more to life and living than what he can do behind his desk each day. When combined with a soft romantic subplot and the discovery of a family he’d never known he wanted, this book becomes a truly heartwarming read.
Assistant Librarian, Quinn Shaffer