The Ocean in My Ears

What Our Readers Are Saying

Share your thoughts on this title!

Average customer rating 5 (3 comments)

---

`

When you're living through it, the teenage years feel like the end of the world. The painful confusion and uplifting revelations of Meri's life in small-town Alaska make THE OCEAN IN MY EARS a true-to-life coming-of-age story, taut with tension between sexuality, the Church, family, and the future. At every turn, you alternate between sympathizing with scenes that you recognize from your own upbringing and wanting to yell at Meri for naïve decisions you know all too well. A book ruminating on the time of transition makes a good read for anyone feeling anxious about their own moment of change. A favorite descriptive excerpt: "Pastor Dan's neck reddens as he yammers on and on about church being Christ's body - I'm probably the equivalent of Christ's eyelash, something small and sloughable. He likes extending metaphors, but they never go deep enough, and his answers only lead to more questions. Plus, he mixes metaphors like crazy. For example, how can the church, of which I am a part, be Christ's body, and my body also be God's holy temple? Totally confusing."

`

The Ocean in My Ears is the kind of literary contemp YA that I want to see more of. The writing is sharp, fun, and incredibly real. This book reminds me that the problems of a teenager don't have to be life or death to be high stakes, like prom and boys and family and religion. Sometimes, though, the stakes *are* life or death, and these are things teens deal with outside of dystopias and space operas and rebellions, in their normal, everyday lives. The '90s Alaskan setting isn't just a nostalgia trip. It can't be, since I was but a wee babe in the '90s, and I found myself relating to this so much. None of the characters are perfect, and their flaws are what make them so interesting. I especially found myself connecting with Meri's experience growing up in a religious household, and pushing against that with its demands, expectations, and little hypocrisies. The struggle of loving her family but wanting to leave them, and not knowing if she's brave enough to try. As a young adult making my way in the world, having left home but still totally scared of future moves and changes and decisions, this book gets me every time I revisit it. Also, it's got a gorgeous cover.

`

Meagan Macvie quickly reveals her talents as a writer in the opening pages of her debut novel: The Ocean in my Ears. There are moments of lucid prose that gave me pause with their rhythms and beauty and complexity. More often than that, though, I found myself lost in the characters, the dynamics between them, their choices and interactions. The traditions of the stifling Alaskan town threaten to send the high-school-age characters in this story down well-worn, deeply rutted paths. But what happens as the story unfolds is far from predictable. We find as many surprises as there are dangers; as many moments of deep connection as there are moments of betrayal. I was utterly smitten with compassion and concern for the main character, Meri. Her increasing thoughtfulness and desperation in the stark environment around her make for as compelling a characterization as I have read in quite a long while. You should read this book. It is one that sticks with you. You may find yourself, as I did, unable to move quickly on to other reading activities–unwilling to leave these characters and this Alaskan landscape behind.