Swimming in the Monsoon Sea by Shyam Selvadurai

“A very honest, simple, spontaneous telling… recommended reading.” Selvadurai, who wrote so gracefully for adults… now does the same for teens.” The luxuriant language with details of architecture and verdant gardens doesn’t call attention to itself, but refreshes like a breeze. “As lush and languid as its Sri Lanka setting… What captures readers is the way the story rolls in waves, mimicking how Amrith looks at himself, then looks away. Silver Winner, Young Adult Category of ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year Award Reviews Sarasavi Publishers, Sri Lanka, 2007 DistinctionsĬanadian Library Association Book of the Yearįinalist, Governor General’s Literary Award Othello, with its powerful theme of disastrous jealousy, is the backdrop to the drama in which Amrith finds himself immersed. He finds himself falling in love with the Canadian boy.

Then, like an unexpected monsoon, his cousin arrives from Canada and Amrith’s ordered life is storm-tossed. 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. He tries not to think of his life “before,” when his doting mother was still alive. 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. The setting is Sri Lanka, 1980, and it is the season of monsoons.

Swimming in the Monsoon Sea by Shyam Selvadurai