The Drowned

by Elizabeth Levy, Jkt art Broeck Steadman

In Atlantic City, as she is pulled deeper into the story of the Drowned Boy's Bed, Lily is plunged into the middle of a terrifying circle of grief and tragedy.

Genres: Fiction

192 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1995

About the author

Elizabeth Levy has been writing and publishing books for over thirty years and sometimes now she meets kids whose parents read her books when they were children! She has written over 80 books, a number that continues to surprise her, as it surprises her how long she's been at it.

Over the years they've printed lots of her books - over five million of them.

She loves to try writing different types of books - everything from funny mysteries to novels about kids who get in trouble to history.

One of the most pleasant surprises about writing is that she's been invited to travel all over the country and even the world speaking to children, teachers, and librarians. She's made some wonderful friendships and gotten lots of ideas for her books. One of the most special treats is that kids have drawn wonderful pictures of one of her favorite characters, Fletcher.

She grew up in Buffalo, New York, then went to Brown University, where she majored in history. When she graduated, she came to New York City and worked for ABC-TV and then for Senator Robert Kennedy. She has lived in New York ever since, and she loves it. She knows all the best places for salami, she has run four marathons, and she has completed many 5-borough bike tours, so she thinks she really knows this place well.

At certain times of the year, she can be found out at Shea Stadium watching her team, the New York Mets. She has always loved baseball.

Mostly she enjoys hanging out with her friends. They spend lots of time going to movies or plays, playing sports, having meals together.

When she's alone and not writing, she is usually reading. She reads mysteries a lot, always has, which is probably why many of her books are mysteries.

Reviews

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The ending of this book is sketched into my memory, I can't seem to remember the rest of the story, though. I believe The Drowned is about a teenage girl who is on vacation in Atlantic City with her aunt. She hears stories about a kid drowning, or something along those lines, and she becomes very curious about it.
I can only describe the ending as being creepy.
Although I can't remember the book too well, I can vividly remember the events leading to me reading this book. Maybe that's why I have only positive memories of this reading experience.


I'm rating this book 5 stars not because I really liked it, but because of the memories it brings back.
By the end of 10th grade, our English teacher decided we would all be required to do 4 book reports. We were allowed to read any 4 book we wanted. Two of those reports had to have visuals related to the book, which we would have to present to the class. The other two just had to be book summaries, also presented to the class.
I wasn't such a bookworm back then and by the time we had to start reading our second book, I didn't have anything to read. Going to the library wasn't an option. Luckily for me, my friend didn't have one either. So, what we did was switch the books we'd previously read. She ended up doing a report on the first book I had read and vice versa.
She had read The Drowned and told me it was pretty good. I started reading it and it wasn't too bad. She isn't the type to read books (in fact, I'm the only person I know that ENJOYS reading. One of the many downsides in living in Vegas is that most kids thinks they're “too cool” to read. So instead of reading they end up getting high constantly. Or pregnant. Constantly. *sigh*), so when she said it was “pretty good” I believed her. She didn't let me down.

It's now been about 4 years since then. But it feels like it was only yesterday.
I guess the reason I'm rating it 5 stars is because I miss those days. I haven't seen that particular person nor stepped a foot inside my old high school for 2, maybe 3 years. Up until now I didn't think I missed it at all. Or even that I had good memories associated with that place. Now that I'm thinking about it I feel sad. Almost like a longing. Maybe it's because after 10th grade me and her drifted apart. Even during our senior year (when we had each other for the majority of our classes) it never felt the same. The damage was done and we were never able to get over our differences and be friends again.

I might end up buying this book just to relive that feeling.

I can only remember little bits and pieces of the book and I recall thinking it was creepy. There is one thing I remember very clearly, though. The cover of the book. I'm almost 100% positive it wasn't this one. I remember when my friend first handed me the book I couldn't take my eyes off the cover. It was beautiful. I though it had been published just that year, in fact. I just tried to find a copy with the cover I'm picturing, but I can't. That's kinda weird.
I can't believe this book was published in 1995. Wow!
From what I remember it didn't read like and older book. You can sometimes tell when a book was written a decade ago or more because the way they speak is slightly different. But I don't recall thinking there was something different with the way the characters spoke.

Its crazy how certain memories just creep up on you like that...