The Man with the Compound Eyes Lib/E

When a tsunami sends a massive island made entirely of trash crashing into the Taiwanese coast, two very different people--an outcast from a mythical island and a woman on the verge of suicide--are united in ways they never could have imagined. Fifteen-year-old Atile'i--a native of Wayo Wayo, an island somewhere in the Pacific--has come of age. Following the custom of his people, he is set adrift as a sacrifice to the Sea God but, unlike those who have gone before him, Atile'i is determined to defy precedent and survive. His chances seem slim, but just as it appears that hope is lost, Atile'i comes across a sprawling trash vortex floating in the ocean and climbs onto it. Meanwhile, on the east coast of Taiwan, Alice, a college professor, is overcome with grief. Her husband and son are missing, having disappeared while hiking in the mountains near their home. Alice is so distraught that she decides to end her own life. But her plans are interrupted by a violent storm that causes the trash vortex to collide with the Taiwanese coast, bringing Atile'i along with it. Alice and Atile'i subsequently form an unlikely friendship that helps each of them come to terms with what they have lost.

About the Author :
Wu Ming-Yi was born in 1971 in Taiwan, where he still lives. A writer, artist, professor, and environmental activist, he has been teaching literature and creative writing at National Dong Hwa University since 2000 and is now a professor in the Department of Chinese. Wu is the author of two books of nature writing, the second of which, The Way of Butterflies, was awarded the China Times Open Book Award in 2003. His debut novel, Routes in the Dream, was named one of the ten best Chinese-language novels of the year by Asian Weekly magazine. The Man with the Compound Eyes is his first book to be translated into English. Cindy Kay is a Chinese-Thai-American narrator and educator who grew up in the California Bay Area and lives in the Rockies. Her work has been described as listening to a "cozy best friend." She narrates fiction and nonfiction, and has studied Spanish, Portuguese, Thai, and Japanese. Darryl Sterk has translated a dozen novels from Taiwan, including Lee Wei-Jing's The Mermaid's Tale, Sakinu Ahronglong's Hunter School, and Chih-ying Lay's Home Sickness, as well as Wu Ming-Yi's The Man With the Compound Eyes and The Stolen Bicycle, which was longlisted for the Booker International Prize. Darryl Sterk has translated a dozen novels from Taiwan, including Lee Wei-Jing's The Mermaid's Tale, Sakinu Ahronglong's Hunter School, and Chih-ying Lay's Home Sickness, as well as Wu Ming-Yi's The Man With the Compound Eyes and The Stolen Bicycle, which was longlisted for the Booker International Prize.