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Overview
Ruslan slipped away from the café and the curious onlookers. He began to run, not knowing exactly why, but instinct making him head away from the sea....
And in the distance, along the seafront of Ujung Karang, screams rose from a hundred, a thousand, mouths.
Aceh, Indonesia. December 2004. Ruslan, an Indonesian boy, and Sarah, an American girl, are brought together in the aftermath of the devastating tsunami. Ruslan is searching for his missing father, while Sarah is trying to get medical treatment for her sick brother. Together they travel through the destruction, barely believing all that they see.
The Killing Sea is a high-stakes survival story that puts a human face on a terrible tragedy. Richard Lewis, who lives in Indonesia, was there during the tsunami and worked as a relief worker in Aceh in the days and weeks following it. This novel is based on his firsthand experiences.
Synopsis
Two teens find each other surrounded by the destruction left in the wake of the most devastating tsunami the world has ever seen: Ruslan, a native of Aceh, in search of his missing father, whom he hopes has not been added to the fallen; and Sarah, an American girl, who has already lost her mother and is now struggling to find medical treatment for her sick brother.
Only together can they find what they're searching for.
Children's Literature
Sixteen-year-old Sarah and her family are sailing through the Indonesian islands during Christmas vacation. Sarah's little brother, Peter, annoying as always, and Surf Cat, a half-grown kitten he befriended, are savoring the adventure but Sarah wishes she was back home again with her friends. One morning Sarah's father, the intrepid captain of the crew, anchors the sailboat and they clamber ashore in search of a mechanic to fix their engine. Ruslan, a local Indonesian teenager, curiously watches them as they draw near. He is magnetized by Sarah's blue eyes. Supposing he'll never see her again, he returns home that night and quietly sketches her portrait. Then he gazes out the window at the quiet moon shadows. Little does he know that his peaceful world is about to be torn into shreds by an angry wall of black water that charges into his village like a demented monster. With vivid descriptions, the author takes readers on a journey of horrific devastation in the aftermath of a tsunami. But he also weaves in a story of courage, hope, friendship, and survival as Ruslan, Sarah, Surf Cat, and other survivors struggle against fear, hunger, illness, rebels lurking in the shadows, and unspeakable scenes of death and decay in their effort to find missing family members and get medical help for Sarah's little brother, Peter. An excellent resource for generating discussions about tsunamis and other natural disasters, grief and loss, and friendship. Good for independent reading. Please note: Some disturbing scenes are included, as this. novel is based on the 2004 tsunami that struck Indonesia on Christmas Eve.
Editorials
KLIATT -
To quote the review of the hardcover in KLIATT, November 2006: Sarah is an American teenager vacationing with her family in Indonesia. Ruslan is the teenaged son of an Indonesian mechanic, whose father has conveniently required that he learn English. When the 2004 tsunami hits, both are separated from their families: Ruslan's father has gone to another town for work, and Sarah and her brother Peter are separated from their parents when their father is injured and their mother killed attempting to escape the wave. For the first half of the book, the teens' stories are told separately in alternating chapters, as Ruslan travels through Aceh Province to find his father and Sarah searches for a doctor for feverish Peter. When Ruslan and Sarah meet, they agree to help each other, and grow to care deeply for one another despite their cultural differences. Lewis, who was raised in Bali as the son of American missionaries, is quite successful at presenting Indonesian culture—especially the political tensions between Aceh separatist rebels and the Indonesian government, which existed long before the tsunami, but with which few of his readers will be familiar. This novel is a gripping, sometimes terrifying adventure story; a touching story of a friendship; and a beautifully drawn picture of another part of the world. And by the end, it has made a strong point about the blindness of the West to those who we see as "different." Reviewer: Samantha MusherChildren's Literature -
Sixteen-year-old Sarah and her family are sailing through the Indonesian islands during Christmas vacation. Sarah's little brother, Peter, annoying as always, and Surf Cat, a half-grown kitten he befriended, are savoring the adventure but Sarah wishes she was back home again with her friends. One morning Sarah's father, the intrepid captain of the crew, anchors the sailboat and they clamber ashore in search of a mechanic to fix their engine. Ruslan, a local Indonesian teenager, curiously watches them as they draw near. He is magnetized by Sarah's blue eyes. Supposing he'll never see her again, he returns home that night and quietly sketches her portrait. Then he gazes out the window at the quiet moon shadows. Little does he know that his peaceful world is about to be torn into shreds by an angry wall of black water that charges into his village like a demented monster. With vivid descriptions, the author takes readers on a journey of horrific devastation in the aftermath of a tsunami. But he also weaves in a story of courage, hope, friendship, and survival as Ruslan, Sarah, Surf Cat, and other survivors struggle against fear, hunger, illness, rebels lurking in the shadows, and unspeakable scenes of death and decay in their effort to find missing family members and get medical help for Sarah's little brother, Peter. An excellent resource for generating discussions about tsunamis and other natural disasters, grief and loss, and friendship. Good for independent reading. Please note: Some disturbing scenes are included, as this. novel is based on the 2004 tsunami that struck Indonesia on Christmas Eve.Nancy A. McFarlin
It is a beautiful morning in Meulaboh, Aceh, Indonesia. Sarah and her American family are on a sailing vacation and in need of some engine repair. Going ashore, they meet Ruslan, a boy working at a cafe on the shore. Ruslan guides them to his father who fixes their engine, and they sail on, but not before Ruslan notices Sarah and her crystal blue eyes. Later that morning, both Ruslan's and Sarah's worlds are shattered by an oceanic earthquake, followed by a tsunami that devastates the area. In the aftermath, Sarah and her brother Peter discover their family's sailboat wrecked, their mother dead, and their father missing. Ruslan, thinking his father is on a job fixing the engine on a tanker in the harbor, desperately begins searching for him. Thus the story begins for both teens as they search for their missing fathers in a devastated countryside. The story, told in alternating chapters, is a disturbing one, but one that will pluck at the heartstrings — the strength of these teens, and the challenges they face alone, and then together, reflect only slightly the immense sorrow that overtook this region in December 2004. Recommended for grades 7-10.School Library Journal
Gr 6–10Ruslan falls for Sarah when her family's sailboat docks in his Indonesian town for mechanical assistance, but Sarah, a self-absorbed American, fails to notice him. Both teens are then caught in the disastrous 2004 tsunami. Sarah makes it to safety, but her mother is killed and her father is missing, leaving her to care for her younger brother. Ruslan also survives and immediately begins to search for his father, who had left their coastal home before the storm. The two meet again, this time forging a relationship. The action never slows, though some dangerous encounters seem unnecessary. Other predicaments are resolved too easily. For example, when Sarah is stranded on an island without a knife, she conveniently finds a boat and machete. Too many conflicts-death, romance, Sarah's anger toward her mother, Ruslan's relationship with relatives who are rebel fighters-muddle the plot. To his credit, the author treats cultural differences with a gentle and honest touch. He also creates a vivid picture of the many horrors and challenges faced in the immediate aftermath of a large-scale natural disaster. Despite drawbacks, this book will appeal to fans of survival adventures like Gary Paulsen's Hatchet (Macmillan, 1986).
—Jayne DamronCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information.