A Message to the Sea

by Alex Shearer

There's no telling who might write back . . .


It's been a year since Tom Pellow's dad was lost at sea. He was a sailor and Tom also finds himself drawn to the vast ocean; it holds so many possibilities, dangers and secrets. After hearing a song on the radio, Tom decides to write a message in a bottle, and throw it out into the sea. To 'cast his bread upon the waters'. He doesn't really expect to hear back, but Tom keeps writing anyway, sending messages out on the tide and searching the waves for a reply.


One day he finds one. It's a letter that seems to be from a ghost, deep down in Davy Jones's Locker - and the writer has a shocking answer to Tom's question.


But if Tom's dad didn't perish at sea, where is he?

Genres: Middle Grade, Contemporary

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2016

About the author

Alex Shearer started his writing career as a scriptwriter and has had great success in that field. His credits include The Two of Us, the 1990s sitcom starring Nicholas Lyndhurst. More recently he has started writing for children. His Wilmot stories have been adapted for TV by Yorkshire television, and his children's novel, The Greatest Store in the World, was screened as a feature length TV film on Christmas Eve 1999 by the BBC. Alex's recent novel 'The Speed of the Dark' was shortlisted for the 2002 Guardian Fiction Prize

Alex Shearer lives with his family in Somerset. He has written more than a dozen books for both adults and children, as well as many successful television series, films, and stage and radio plays. He has had over thirty different jobs, and has never given up trying to play the guitar.

Reviews

[LittleMissBookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seit über einem Jahr gilt Toms Vater als auf hoher See verschollen. Eines Tages hört der Junge, der seinen Vater noch immer schmerzlich vermisst, ein Lied im Radio, das ihn auf die Idee bringt, eine Flaschenpost abzuschicken. Und genau das tut er. Womit er allerdings nicht gerechnet hätte, ist, dass er tatsächlich eine Antwort bekommt. Doch genau das passiert. Und diese Antwort ist mehr als unglaublich, ein bisschen übernatürlich, aber auch hoffnungsvoll...

Alex Shearers Jugendroman beginnt zwar etwas langsam, erzählt aber eine wunderbare und einzigartige Geschichte. Was mir besonders gut gefallen hat, ist die mystische Komponente, da man nicht genau weiß, wer denn nun auf seine Briefe antwortet - das Meer? Ein Bekannter, der sich einen Scherz erlaubt? Ein Untoter? Man weiß es nicht.

Mir hat "Und plötzlich schreibt das Meer zurück" gut gefallen und ich empfehle es Jugendlichen ab 12 Jahren.

[Trisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charming, poignant and thoughtful. While the majority is told through Tom's eyes, there are small sections when we get a different perspective.

Such a beautifully written book, using fanciful twists of words, creating an all together likeable and reflective main character.

Loved it.

[Adele Broadbent · Rating 4 out of 5]

It hadn’t occurred to Tom Pellow before, but when he heard a song on the radio, ‘Message in a bottle,’ he thought it might be a fun idea to send a message out into the world. He put his email on the bottom, just in case someone somewhere exotic did find it and want to write back.

Waiting was the hardest part, but when his own bottle came back with a message, he was excited, amazed and a little bit scared. Could it be real or was someone pulling a nasty trick on him? Who would joke about the loss of his dad at sea a year before?

Putting his fear aside, Tom sends another message and discovers the impossible. But who could he tell and would they believe him?

This was a beautifully written, simple story about loss, grief and hope.

(Spoiler Bit below!!)
As an adult I saw what might be a wonderful miracle about to happen, but loved Tom's character so much by then, I was keen to see it all come together. A wonderful warm fuzzy for me.

[Chantal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous tale for middle schoolers of faith and hope and the mysteries of the sea.
Recommended ages 11-15

[Justine Laismith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This middle-grade book is centred around the romantic notion of receiving a message in a bottle.

The book started off light enough. A boy has that 'what-if' moment and sends a letter out into the big, wide ocean. Even though he knows the chances of anyone receiving it, let alone getting a reply is infinitesimally small, he becomes obsessed with it. His family has noticed his preoccupation with the sea, but he has been evasive. But then he receives a reply that throws his world upside down and he has to decide if he should open up to his family.

The start of the book was fun. Even though the author repeated a concept of Tom's several times, I could visualise it as his thoughts, chewing things over and over it as many possible ways as possible. However, this got tedious by the time I was over a quarter way into the book. I started skimming through his internal monologues. The blurb at the back had promised me the sea was writing back, and I wanted to know now!

I like how the mystic of the sea was portrayed and how it tied up the story in the end.

[Nurul Shahzira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Subtly emotional, and very interesting plot and strooyline! maybe a lil bit draggy for me but its an acceptable and not annoying kind of draggy for me. Tom was in middle school but since he throw the what he thoght the last bottle to the sea, i cant see him as anything else but an adult. i think its great that the author could bring out such character development in such a short and simple story. its simple but very meaningful. it does reach my heart. i love it.

[Zawani · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The sea did not discriminate. The careful and the careless, the ignorant and the knowledgeable, the cautious, the foolhardy, the prudent snd imprudent alike - the sea could take them all if it wanted to. And no man's character and no man's skill was enough to defeat it."

A kinda melancholic at first but turns out to be a hearty and warming towards the end. Light and fast YA reading.

[cl · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is great, and there were really meaningful quotes that I loved. However, I found it quite hard to read, some sentences were unclear and hard to understand. In the beginning, I find it sort of boring but towards the end of the book it was entertaining. Overall, I'd give it 3/5 starts.

[Alice Mclennan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was such a good book a real cliff hanger would recommend if you like mystery.

[LUDIVINE LECLERCQ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a hard time starting this book but decided to push myself and read it until the end. And boy, I was happy I did! It is a great short story that is easy to read.

[Lisagilbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

My sons favourite book and he wanted me to read it. It is a lovely story and will seek out the author for more we can share together

[ZsaZsa Dinter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really my cup of coffee but they did get the older sister-younger brother relationship right.

[Janette Hamilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a very touching story about a boy who had to come to Terms, events in his life, hello and how we overcome them

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to admit to being a huge Alex Shearer fan and this book didn't disappoint. I have read books by him with such a range of plots, he is an amazing writer. So an innocent story about a boy missing his drowned father and sending messages out to the sea has various twists and turns then an unexpected ending, Great for a good middle to upper primary reader or lower secondary. I always really enjoy his stories.

[Tim Mckinstry · Rating 5 out of 5]

The ending of this story! I didn't see it coming, I feel I should have but I'm glad I didn't. My bus was nearing my stop as I was devouring the pages to try and wring out the last drops of story.

This book takes it's time and breathes off the pages, I really enjoyed it and can't recommend it enough.

Five stars.

[Darby Karchut · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first book by author Alex Shearer and it won't be my last. A MESSAGE TO THE SEA is a beautifully written story about love and loss and hope. I read it in one sitting, unable to stop reading. The end brought tears to my eyes and I don't easily cry. I highly recommend this book.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book for middle schoolers about yearning, loss and the pull of the sea. It has mystery and depicts how one thing or event leads to another. An enjoyable read. Beautifully written.

[Pauline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Refreshingly introspective and delightful.