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Originally published as The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud. This is a movie tie-in edition; presuming that it's supposed to be Charlie on the cover, I take it that no attention was paid to the color of his eyes (or hair) when they did the casting. Or perhaps I just haven't encountered blue caramel yet. :p

Charlie St. Cloud has his job, his routine, and a special gift: he can see and talk to his younger brother Sam, even though Sam's been dead for thirteen years. Then he meets a woman who changes everything...

I'll count this as my Massachusetts read (39/51) for the 2020 version of NancyNova's US States reading challenge.

Reserved for a wishlist tag; since this book will be traveling to New England, I have to wonder if it might get released in Marblehead. :)

Monday, December 14, 2020: Charlie is off on a new adventure!

USPS tracking 9549 0104 3304 0349 9643 35
ETA 1/6/21

Released for DragonGoddess's What's in a Name? challenge and jumpingin's Ultimate challenge for December (first names).

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The book arrived safely today - many thanks! Looks like it spent about a month hovering in between Hawaii and the mainland, but it made it through {wry grin}. I was interested in the book in part because the 2010 film adaptation stars the very pretty Zac Efron; loved him in "The Greatest Showman", and though it sounds as if he wasn't cast for his resemblance to the book-character he definitely does ornament the cover!

Later: I enjoyed this book very much, though - or perhaps because - it was more of a fantasy than I'd expected. (I also appreciated all the local references, having visited Marblehead more than once - usually on book-release jaunts, with side trips for seafood!) Here, we get a tale-within-a-tale narrated by the firefighter who rescued Charlie from the car crash that killed his little brother (on their way home from a Red Sox game at Fenway - the book's loaded with local references), and who has watched over Charlie to some degree ever since. Charlie himself, having gained the ability to see the spirits of the not-yet-passed-over dead, has opted to work at the local Waterside Cemetery (yet another real location - I visited once to find a Lovecraft-themed geocache hidden at the waterside edge), so he can retain contact with his brother.

And then comes Tess, a young woman who's an avid sailor, now planning a solo trip around the world on her beloved Querencia. She meets Charlie and sparks fly - but their relationship takes an unexpected turn, about which I can't say much without spoiling the rest of the story (though I did guess part of it before the characters realized what was going on).

There are lovely scenes of getting to know new love-interests, of appreciating one's community, of what might come after this life, and more - including the storm-at-sea scenes.

I also appreciated the author's after-notes, which include descriptions of the real-world locations that inspired the story - and have some fun bits about seeing the film location in Vancouver, Canada, where one of their cemeteries got a special-effects makeover to pretend to be on the other side of the continent!

[There's a short TV Tropes page on the film.]

Guidelines for safely visiting and stocking Little Free Libraries during the COVID-19 pandemic, from the LFL site here.

I plan to leave this book in or near the actual Waterside Cemetery, inspiration for much of the setting of this book. Hope someone enjoys it!

[See other recent releases in MA here.]

*** Released for the 2021 Oh the Places We Can Go challenge, for the towns of St. Cloud MN and FL. ***

*** Released for the 2021 4 Elements challenge. ***

*** Released for the 2021 Movie challenge. ***

*** Released for the 2021 Keep Them Moving challenge. ***