Boy Underwater
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
SELECTED AS WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE MONTH
SHORTLISTED FOR THE CARNEGIE AWARD
A heart-breaking, heart-warming novel for everyone of 10 and older – this book will probably make you cry, and will definitely make you laugh.
Cymbeline Igloo (yes, really!) has NEVER been swimming
Not ever. Not once.
But how hard can it be? He’s Googled front crawl and he’s found his dad’s old pair of trunks. He’s totally ready.
What he’s not ready for is the accident at the pool – or how it leads his mum to a sudden breakdown.
Now, with the help of friends old and new, Cymbeline must solve the mystery of why his mum never took him near water – and it will turn his whole life upside down…
‘A wonderful story, moving and funny’ – Ross Welford
Reviews
‘An absolute corker of a tale, whose delicate themes – mental health, missing loved ones – are handled with fluid grace’ Observer
‘This poignant novel is about love and loss, but, told from the viewpoint of a child too young to grasp all that grown-ups do, it is also funny. With evocative monochrome illustrations, it bears you up as soon as you plunge in’ Sunday Times, Children’s Book of the Week
‘Involving and wryly funny, full of tenderness, eccentricity and intriguing meditations on the function of art, this story of grief, depression and the different facets of identity is well-served by Benji Davies’s thoughtful illustrations’ Guardian
‘The witty humour and dialogue are the perfect foil to the unresolved grief and anxiety that underpin this impressive debut’ Daily Mail
‘Adam Baron has a light touch and brings humour to difficult subjects. So, why not come in? The water’s lovely’ The Times Children’s Book of the Week
‘Baron’s children’s debut is funny and easygoing, complemented by lively black-and-white illustrations from Davies’ Publishers Weekly
‘Adam Baron has successfully maintained a delicate balance between comedy and tragedy and there are scenes that will have children laughing aloud, as well as others that will leave many readers in tears’
Books for Keeps, Children’s Book of the Week
‘Boy Underwater is one of those rare books that manages to be both very funny and heartbreakingly sad’ LoveReading4Kids
About the author
Adam Baron is the author of five successful novels and has, in his time, been an actor, comedian, journalist and press officer at Channel 4 television (as well as things he’s too embarrassed to mention). He now runs the widely respected MA in Creative Writing at Kingston University London. Adam lives in Greenwich, South London, with his wife and three young children. He wrote Boy Underwater (his first novel aimed at younger readers) because they told him to. While still in the flush of youth he knows what his final words are going to be: ‘clear the table’.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Nine-year-old white Cymbeline Igloo's mother has never allowed him to go swimming, and he's not sure why. When a classmate challenges him to a swimming race, he accepts with exuberance: he may not know how to swim, but he's sure he'll figure it out with Google and gumption. But then "complete and total disaster" strikes, and Cymbeline almost drowns, causing his mother, a painter who often experiences grief "so heavy that she couldn't put it down," to withdraw. After his mother is hospitalized, Cymbeline goes to live with family nearby in London. Desperate for stability and longing for his mother, he recruits his crush Veronique, who is half French and half Chinese, to help him investigate his mother's paintings for clues to untangle the web of his family's past, which is "much more complicated than I'd ever known." Australian author Baron's children's debut is funny and easygoing, complemented by lively black-and-white illustrations from Davies, which depict Cymbeline's beloved Mr. Fluffy and delicious pizza slices. Despite the heavy subjects covered, including loss, mental illness, and grief, Cymbeline's energetic narration and penchant for addressing the reader directly keep the tone lighthearted throughout. Most characters cue as white. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 9–12.
