The Seafare Chronicles is a four book series by TJ Klune.
Three days before Derrick "Bear" Mckenna turned eighteen, his mother Julie left him with 137$ cash and a poorly spelled goodbye letter telling him that he was an adult now and on his own. As if abandoning her son, draining his bank account, and ruining his chances of going to college weren't enough, Julie also left him as the legally-dubious sole guardian of his five year old brother Tyson "The Kid" Mckenna.
For three years, Bear and the Kid scrape by with the help of Bear's girlfriend Anna, his best friend Creed, the families of both, and Bear's elderly neighbor Ms. Paquinn.
But Julie isn't the only one to have left them.
Two weeks after his mother's disappearance, Creed's older brother Otter, a man who'd been a part of Bear's life for as long as Creed had, a man who had promised to be there and help them through their mother's abandonment, takes off with no explanation, an abandonment that affects Bear and The Kid just as badly as that of their mother's.
Now, three years later, one of them has come back.
The series consists of:
- Bear, Otter, and The Kid (2011)
- Who We Are (2012)
- The Art of Breathing (2014)
- The Long and Winding Road (2017)
Provides examples of:
- Abusive Parents:
- Julie Mckenna never hit her kids, but as several characters point out, there's more than one kind of abuse. She was neglectful and emotionally abusive to her children, and financially abused Bear by flat out stealing his college tuition savings that he earned at his job. When she returns to threaten to take custody of Tyson, the only reason she does so is because she's being paid to ruin Bear's relationship with Otter. Later on, we find that she likely continued her emotionally abusive and neglectful ways with her daughter, Lizzie, as Lizzie has many of the neurosis and trust issues that Tyson had.
- Dominic's father beat his wife and son, and murdered Dominic's mother right in front of him.
- All Gays Are Pedophiles: When Bear and Otter move into a new neighborhood and go to meet the foster parents of the Kid's new friend, Bear is blown away when the foster father casually asks if Bear and Otter intend to do anything untoward with their foster son. Bear can't decide what to be more upset about; the fact that the man essentially accused him and Otter of being pedophiles, or the fact that he did it so nonchalantly.
- The Bear: Despite the nickname, Bear isn't a bear. However, when he grows up, the neighbor kid Dominic fits the trope.
- The Big Guy: In the first book Otter is the big guy in their friend group. In the second book, we meet Dominic, who is already enormous at the age of fourteen, and who grows up to be a giant.Rob: How do you even fit through doors? Do you cause children to have nightmares? What was it like living on top of the beanstalk?”
- Bisexual Love Triangle: Bear was in a straight relationship with Anna on and off since they were kids. His realization that he's in love with Otter, while still loving Anna (albeit in a different way) leads to denial, arguments, hurt feelings, and eventually forgiveness.
- Closet Key: Otter to Bear, so much so that it's the reason Otter left: he was afraid that his coming out had somehow "corrupted" Bear, who had shown no signs of being gay until that point.
- Coming-Out Story: The first novel is a coming out story for Bear, who had thought he was straight until that point and was in a hetero relationship with Anna. Him coming to terms with his sexuality and his perception of himself is one of the main sources of conflict in the first book.
- Cool Old Lady: Mrs. Paquinn. She's a sweet old woman who also is snarky and tough and loves Bear and the Kid as though they were her own. She joins Creed and Anna as one of Bear's top supporters for the custody of Tyson.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Otter's ex Jonah wants him back so badly that he pay's Bear's mother to come back after three years to blackmail Bear into breaking up with Otter. It's revealed that he paid her 25,000$ for the service.
- Disappeared Dad: All the Mckenna kids have different disappeared dads, none of which stuck around, and some of which are implied to have been domestically violent during their short stay.
- Drag Queen:
- Kori/Corey's friend Helena Handbasket, who puts the group up for the night when they're dropping Kori off in Arizona.
- A running gag is that young Tyson wanted to become a drag queen with the name "Minerva Fox," but something happened during Pride of sophomore year that ended in disaster and put him off the idea.
"Let’s just say I do not make an attractive woman. There are many gorgeous queens in the world. I ended up looking like duckbilled platypus in a dress and heels." - Drowning My Sorrows: A couple weeks after his mother leaves, Bear becomes overwhelmed with the prospect of raising his little brother and downs a bottle of cheap liquor his mom left behind. He becomes so distraught that he calls Otter for help, and the ensuing argument and drunken kiss is what triggers Otter's leaving.
- Friend Versus Lover: Part of the reason why Creed behaved so oddly about Bear coming out. It wasn't because he was upset Bear and his brother were secretly together, it's because now Otter will be the guy Bear relies on and confides in.
- Gayngst:
- When Otter came out to his parents, they were less than thrilled. They were never cruel, but they became distant, causing a rift between them that lasted for years. It's not until Bear confronts them that we find out they aren't actually homophobic. Otter's father was traumatized by the death of his beloved older brother, Alan, who was gay and died of aids during the 1980s. Otter's parents love their son, but they were terrified of what might happen to him and didn't know how to react, not realizing that their cool response was hurting Otter. The family does eventually mend, but it takes a long time for Otter to trust them again.
- When he first realizes that he's attracted to Otter, Bear flails around in emotional turmoil, unable to reconcile his feelings with his identity as a straight man in a relationship with a woman he ostensibly loves, going so far as to blame Otter and claiming he "tricked" him somehow. This is made worse by the fact that Otter is his best friend's older brother, and had been like a surrogate big brother to Bear for much of his life.
- Horrible Housing:
- Bear and Tyson share a room in a shitty apartment in a poor area of town, where the only good part of the situation is that Mrs. Paquinn also lives in a shitty apartment across the hall and becomes a family friend.
- Later, Bear, Otter, and the Kid move into "The Green Monstrosity," a small starter home that's painted a vibrant green color. Despite the nickname (and the paint job), the house is far nicer than the apartment and becomes a beloved home.
- Nervous Wreck: Both Bear and Tyson deal with the trauma of Julie's abandonment poorly. Both become paranoid about trusting others. Bear is prone to catastrophizing worst case scenario events and becomes overly protective of his little brother, and Tyson becomes neurotic and prone to severe panic attacks, eventually being diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.
- Non-Indicative Name: Bear is called Bear because Tyson mispronounced his real name, Derrick, when he was a baby. There are a few jokes about his name in regards to the slang term bear (a large, hairy, gay man) and how he doesn't fit the description at all, being slim and shorter than average. Likewise Otter earned his nickname because a young Bear misread his real name, Oliver. There are jokes about the slang term otter meaning a slim, hairy, gay man, and how Otter doesn't fit it, either.
- Precocious Crush:
- When thinking back on it, Bear realizes his infatuation with Otter goes back much farther than the night of the kiss, and that he likely had feelings for him since he was a kid, though he didn't recognize what they were at the time.
- Tyson had a crush on his best friend, the neighbor kid Dominic, who is six years older.
- Parental Abandonment: The entire series kicks off because Julie Mckenna left her underage sons to be with a man who didn't want kids. On her way out, she drains Bear's college savings, and the only reason she turns up at all later is because she was paid by a jealous ex of Otter's to ruin his and Bear's relationship.
- Single-Target Sexuality: Bear to Otter. It's mentioned repeatedly that Bear doesn't generally find men attractive, just Otter, to the point where other characters argue that he can't "be gay for just one person." As Bear grows more comfortable in his sexuality, he does begin noticing other men, but Otter is still the only one he has any interest in.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Julie Mckenna's children all strongly resemble her and each other. When Bear meets Lizzie, his half sister for the first time, he can't get over the strong resemblance to Tyson.
- Unknowingly in Love: Bear for much of his life towards Otter. He tries to explain away his infatuation as hero worship and admiration. Tyson tries to do the same thing in regards to Dominic.
