Are they seals - or only boardriders in wetsuits? Maybe there's a magical distance where things are what you want them to be, not what they are. At least, that's the boy's dream.
It's a dream that draws him back and back to the sea, because the sea is the only world that washes them all: the boy, his drowned father, and the newborn seal cub.
Beautifully, magically written, this is one of those rare books which you put down reluctantly and feel you wouldn't have changed a single word.
Recommended for ages 9-12.