21. Swimming in the Monsoon Sea by Shyam Selvadurai (YA) 274 p.

Amrith is a kind, sheltered fourteen-year-old living in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Raised by his mother’s childhood friend, Auntie Bundle, and her husband, Uncle Lucky, after his parents’ deaths, he has no blood relations of his own, and no close friends. That changes when his Canadian cousin Niresh arrives for a visit, and the two boys become close.

As usual, Shyam Selvadurai draws a wonderful portrait of Sri Lanka, this time of Colombo in August, 1980. Amrith is a very charming character, polite and intelligent.

I bought an ARC of this book without realizing it. It’s the first time I’ve ever read one, so I was pleased to discover only a few errors, mostly missing words and a few mistaken words (like “whetted” for “vetted”.)

I’ve always enjoyed Shyam Selvadurai’s writing, so I wasn’t surprised to find myself absorbed in Swimming in the Monsoon Sea. It was Selvadurai’s first young adult novel, though, and it’s nice to see that he made the transition from adult to YA fiction without any signs of difficulty.

Pages read: 6,472

Tags: 50 Book Challenge 2008, Shyam Selvadurai, What's in a Name?, World Lit Challenge II