With the first in the Roosevelt series, Heidi
Cullinan hits CARRY THE OCEAN
out of the park. Tackling sensitive topics such as
clinical depression and
autism, one would think this book would be heavy on the
technical side.
However, Cullinan balances the romance and the realistic
aspects well,
creating a perfect symphony of high and low parts for
Jeremy and Emmet.
Jeremy is a recent high school graduate. His superb
intellectual skills put
him in the league of all the math and science geeks. But
even then he feels
alienated because of the fact that he has autism. When he
meets Emmet, he
is enraptured by his good looks and serene personality.
Jeremy soon realizes
that Emmet suffers from severe clinical depression and has
trouble meeting
new people. Reaching out to him, they become friends.
The romance really comes to life when Jeremy and Emmet
communicate
their needs to one another. As they learn to understand
more about each
other's set of problems and ticks, they also end up
learning more about each
other as well. This bond creates such a strong
relationship and actually
brought tears to my eyes more than once. The awkward and
innocent
dialogue makes you want to root for these characters and
as they try very
hard to overcome their set of problems, you find yourself
rooting for them to
succeed.
Not only is CARRY THE OCEAN a beautiful, touching romance,
it sheds light
on some life lessons as well. I think Cullinan approached
these delicate
matters well and really provided an accurate depiction of
each character's
obstacles and made it something special as opposed to
something terrible.
High school graduate Jeremey Samson is looking forward to
burying his head under the covers and sleeping until it’s
time to leave for college. Then a tornado named Emmet
Washington enters his life. The double major in math and
computer science is handsome, forward, wicked smart,
interested in dating Jeremey—and he’s autistic.
But Jeremey doesn’t judge him for that. He’s too busy
judging himself, as are his parents, who don’t believe in
things like clinical depression. When his untreated
illness
reaches a critical breaking point, Emmet is the white
knight
who rescues him and brings him along as a roommate to The
Roosevelt, a quirky new assisted living facility nearby.
As Jeremey finds his feet at The Roosevelt, Emmet slowly
begins to believe he can be loved for the man he is behind
the autism. But before he can trust enough to fall head
over
heels, he must trust his own conviction that friendship is
a
healing force, and love can overcome any obstacle.
Warning: Contains characters obsessed with trains and
counting, positive representations of autism and mental
illness, a very dark moment, and Elwood Blues.
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