The House in the Cerulean Sea – TJ Klune (Book Club)

[Tuula]

Although I strongly identify with Chauncey (an amorphous green blob with dreams of becoming a bellhop), Sal’s (a shy 14-year-old who transforms into a Pomeranian when frightened.) poem has been my favourite ever since I read it for the first time four years ago. It still moves me and my SBalls. I can’t explain why. Maybe it is this weird mix of being both, a blob and brittle?

“I am but paper. Brittle and thin.
I am held up to the sun, and it shines right through me.
I get written on, and I can never be used again.
These scratches are a history. They’re a story.

They tell things for others to read, but they only see the words, and not what the words are written upon.

I am but paper, and though there are many like me, none are exactly the same.
I am parched parchment. I have lines. I have holes.
Get me wet, and I melt. Light me on fire, and I burn.
Take me in hardened hands, and I crumple. I tear.
I am but paper. Brittle and thin.”

– Sal, in The House In The Cerulean Sea

PS. I should be reading, not playing. There’s no chance I’ll finish the book by Sunday…

[Andy]

I like Sal a lot!
Chauncey has been slightly tainted by the narrator on the audiobook. I feel like I have to wipe my ears clean of spittle every time he says something! I admire his passion for bel-hopping though.