TAMPA, FL--(Marketwire - May 21, 2012) - In his new novel, "Unto the Breach" (www.untothebreach.com), physician Ian Blumer -- using the pen name Sidney Gale -- sends three teenaged boys and a schoolteacher on a fateful sailing trip on Lake Ontario. When faced with potential disaster, the tense dynamics among the boys is tested as they make life-and-death decisions.
Reviewers have praised it as a fast-paced tale with flesh-and-blood characters who change and grow as they face the greatest challenges of their young lives. They compare Blumer to popular young adult author Gordon Korman, though they say Blumer's storytelling is more provocative and mature. Blumer is also the author or co-author of six non-fiction books.
"I set out to write what I hoped would be a gripping boys' adventure story, the type I enjoyed growing up, because I felt there weren't enough novels out there to interest those notoriously reluctant readers: 10- to 20-year-old boys," says Blumer, a father of two sons. "I'm a sailor and I'm a doctor, so I combined the two things I know."
The protagonist is 13-year-old Anthony, a smart kid obsessed with medical shows but with no ambition, academic or otherwise, and even less physical prowess. His best friend is Eric, a straight-A student and gifted athlete. Rather than take part in the big class trip to Upward Bound, they talk their parents into allowing them to go on a sailing trip with a friendly teacher from school, Mr. B., as a chaperone. Because Mr. B. isn't a sailor the parents add a third boy into the mix, a veteran sailor named Rob. Unfortunately, Rob and Eric know one another -- and they don't like each other.
Add to this compelling mix a gale tossing their small boat on an ocean-like Great Lake, and a medical emergency, and the action never stops.
"Gale is a knowledgeable author, who creates sympathetic and interesting characters. Neither my son (11 years old) nor I could put this down!" wrote reviewer sailorbro123.
About Sidney Gale/Dr. Ian Blumer
Dr. Ian Blumer, pen name Sidney Gale, is a physician in Toronto, Ontario, and an avid sailor. He has written or co-written six non-fiction books, including "What Your Doctor Really Thinks." An excerpt from "Unto the Breach" was selected by the Cambridge University Press for inclusion in a reading instruction book for students.
Contact Information:
Contact:
Ginny Grimsley
ginny@newsandexperts.com