The House in the Cerulean Sea (Cerulean Chronicles, #1)

by T.J. Klune

“I am but paper. Brittle and thin. I am held up to the sun, and it shines right through me. I get written on, and I can never be used again. These scratches are a history. They’re a story. They tell things for others to read, but they only see the words, and not what the words are written upon. I am but paper, and though there are many like me, none are exactly the same. I am parched parchment. I have lines. I have holes. Get me wet, and I melt. Light me on fire, and I burn. Take me in hardened hands, and I crumple. I tear. I am but paper. Brittle and thin.”

Oh, Sal. How I adore you. This big, quiet boy who turns into a tiny fluffy dog was one of the first characters—after Linus and Lucy—that I created. He is the newest arrival to the island, and his backstory isn’t the easiest given all he went through before he found where he belonged. He, like Linus, doesn’t want to be seen or heard. And like me, he finds it easier to write down his thoughts rather than speaking them out loud. Words can be hard. I often lose my train of thought and end up talking in circles. But when I write? It feels like I’m singing. And I wanted that more than anything for Sal. I knew almost as soon as I figured out his name that he wanted to be a writer. He doesn’t talk much because his voice has been taken from him by people in power who should know better. This scene, where he stands in front of the group and reads what he’s written, is Sal speaking his truth for perhaps one of the first times in his life. It could be argued that he does this for Linus’s benefit, given what Linus is to the orphanage: a government employee with the power to shut everything down. But I think that notion would take away from the power of this moment. Yes, Linus is a symbol of the government that has treated him so badly, but Sal is also doing this for himself, to show that while he may be shy and quiet, he’s a force to be reckoned with, and he won’t let his new home be taken from him without a fight. Here, he is singing, and everyone hears his song.