Product Description

At the age of ten, Gwen Cooke had a strange encounter with a boy with dark, slightly tilted eyes. He came to her on the beach, whispered strange words in her ear, and then disappeared. Shortly thereafter, her family moved away from their seaside home and Gwen never saw the boy again.

Now seventeen, Gwen is returning to her childhood home. Her nana asked her to come. But Gwen knows it's time to go back for another reason: She yearns for the sea. Perhaps the sea itself is calling to her. Perhaps the memory of the boy and his haunting words are drawing her back to the place they met. Perhaps it's time for her to face her destiny.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #313115 in Books
• Published on: 2005-04-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 279 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780689864421
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From School Library Journal
Grade 8 Up–Gwen, 17, has returned to a small beach community seven years after the scandal that forced her family to flee. Now she's spending the summer working at her grandmother's inn and hoping to put the past behind her. The very first morning she's there, however, she meets Jesse, a boy who claims he already knows her, and knows what happened all those years ago. Overcome by her attraction to him, Gwen spends more and more time with him and realizes that he has secrets he isn't telling her. Her grandmother's tales of selkies foreshadow what is to come, and readers will probably guess the outcome long before Gwen does. If they can get past the sentimental title that belies the real story, the romance and mystery will keep them reading until the very end. Expect this to be popular where retold myths and fairy tales are in demand.–Ginny Collier, Dekalb County Public Library, Chamblee, GA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Gr. 7-10. Unlike Farley's middle-grade Phantom Stallion series, her first YA novel is not equestrian in theme. Her focus, however, is still on a transcendent bond between a girl and an animal--in this case, a sea lion selkie. When Gwen and her parents abruptly move away from their coastal family seat, her clairvoyant grandmother predicts that forces "no mortal can imagine and no female can resist" will draw her back. Sure enough, when Gwen, 17, returns for a summer job, she falls for exotic wanderer Jesse and finds herself immersed in a modern, California version of a Scottish selkie myth. It takes time for her to acknowledge Jesse's sea lion nature (perhaps too long, considering his taste for raw bait); eventually, though, Gwen accepts his alien qualities along with the tragic knowledge that their time together is fleeting. Farley's numerous supporting characters and subplots lend more complication than meaningful depth, but Gwen's convincing, contemporary voice, by turns resolutely practical and head-over-heels for a guy who "kisses like an ocean god," will draw many teens into one of folklore's lesser-known beauty-and-the-beast romances. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

Enjoyable and inviting a sequel
I read this while flying between Bangor and San Francisco. Ms. Farley was right to venture into new territory. She has written a highly enjoyable story about what is real and what isn't. Gwen has spent seven years trying to determine the difference while dealing uncomfortably with her perception of how others in her life view her following her mysterious encounter at the edge of the sea when she was ten.
Now she is back, helping her grandmother at the inn overlooking the very spot where she encountered the mysterious boy in the midnight surf. Was he real; is he human or something else? This is a well-crafted story with believable characters and a smoothly flowing plot. It reminds me of Kotuku by Deborah Savage, another YA story I greatly enjoyed. This would be an excellent addition to any library YA collection or as a gift for someone who likes light fantasy. The ending invites a continuance.

It touched my heart
It was so beautifully writtent that I will never look at the sea the same ever agian. It makes you question your own heart and what you would do if you were in Gwen's position. I couldn't put it down since I read the first page.

One of the best books i have EVER read!
This was a really, really, really good book! i am a lover of horse books, so i usually dont read a book unless it has something to do with horses, but when i first saw the cover of this wonderful book, i knew it had something special about it. but if you're a fan of Terri Farley's PHANTOM STALLION books, you may/may not like this book. if you are a die-hard lover of books about horses, you probably wont like this book since it has NOTHING to do with horses at all. but if you like a bit of fantasy, romance and myth, you'll just love this book. Both ways, you should really get it. The reason i gave it four out of five stars, though, is becouse it is a bit predictable, like other people said. but you probably wont guess the beautiful ending, though. All in all, it's a great book and you should read it.