The Kraken Sea by E. Catherine Tobler
Apex Book Company (June 2016)
128 pages; $11.95 paperback; $3.99 e-book
Reviewed by David Simms
If reading YA has gotten a little cliché for readers, the same old dystopian plots and angst-ridden ghosts, there’s a new wave coming. Back to the intelligence of what made the genre strong, some new authors have decided to push back and take a chance.The Kraken Sea is one such entry. E. Catherine Tobler has given the YA world something it may not have seen before.
Jackson has left the orphanage on a train full of others, all hoping for a forever and loving home. Sister Jerome Grace knows his true secret: beneath his skin hide scales and appendages akin to tentacles. When the group visits the World’s Fair in Chicago, Jackson meets someone like him—but a girl who is imprisoned within a cage for all to see and mock.
Back on the train, he discovers that a woman in San Francisco has requested him, offering a home. What she truly offers, however, is beyond his wildest dreams—and nightmares. An amazing mythology, one that includes the titular creature, unfolds before his eyes as he struggles to find his place in this new world.
Tobler has penned an intriguing story here, one which might break some of the stale molds in YA. Hopefully, her strong writing and mesmerizing characters will resonate with readers of all ages, even the Old Ones.
Recommended.
