covediver
Contributor
The Final Voyage of the Sea Explorer by Douglas Boren is a young adult (YA) novel that tells the story of Josh and Jimmy, two recent high school graduates embarking on a week-long live aboard cruise in the Bahamas. Their diving formerly confined to inland lakes of cold water and low visibility, the boys begin to discover the variety of sites a cruise through the Bahamas has to offer. Along the way, they discover the challenges of deep diving, losing your buddy, falling in love with Holly-the galley help-and finding the absolute beauty of the underwater world. The sites and dives are vividly described in a way that makes me want to hop on a series of very long flights and experience the live aboard diving in the islands
Of course, no teen adventure story is complete without a sunken treasure and a curse. The pursuit of this treasure unbeknownst by the Captain and the dive master lead to tragic consequences while allowing one of the duo to connect with one of his ancestors in a surprising, if somewhat implausible turn of events.
The book moves along at a good pace, each chapter covering a different day of the voyage. The story is entertaining. Some readers may find the Bahamian characters a bit two dimensional with some of the stereotypical dialog (dis, de, dat) and plot devices (the marijuana dealer, voodoo curse, etc.) but no more so than the 1960s James Bond movie set in the same location.
YA novels are not just for young readers. This novel reminded me of some of the stories I read as a young adult, mostly science fiction. Trade a spacesuit for a dive rig and a spaceship for a liveaboard and you have the plots of so many novels I read. For my summer reading, I would give this a B-, but then I had just finished reading Cayman Cowboys the day before. The story reminds us of the power of friendship borne out of a love for adventure.
Of course, no teen adventure story is complete without a sunken treasure and a curse. The pursuit of this treasure unbeknownst by the Captain and the dive master lead to tragic consequences while allowing one of the duo to connect with one of his ancestors in a surprising, if somewhat implausible turn of events.
The book moves along at a good pace, each chapter covering a different day of the voyage. The story is entertaining. Some readers may find the Bahamian characters a bit two dimensional with some of the stereotypical dialog (dis, de, dat) and plot devices (the marijuana dealer, voodoo curse, etc.) but no more so than the 1960s James Bond movie set in the same location.
YA novels are not just for young readers. This novel reminded me of some of the stories I read as a young adult, mostly science fiction. Trade a spacesuit for a dive rig and a spaceship for a liveaboard and you have the plots of so many novels I read. For my summer reading, I would give this a B-, but then I had just finished reading Cayman Cowboys the day before. The story reminds us of the power of friendship borne out of a love for adventure.
