In a small town in Iowa, Scotty Ocean has announced that seven is going to be his year. It does turn out to be his year, but not quite the one he had imagined. It is the year his mother abandons the family. At first, Scotty does astonishing things to get her to return. When he realizes she won't be coming back, he decides he must replace her. And when that proves impossible, he takes the dramatic step of trying to remain seven forever. Funny, sad, and constantly surprising, An Ocean in Iowa explores the fragile contracts between parents and children and what it really means to grow up. Shirley Manson Harper's Bazaar This funny and supremely moving book is full of hope and possibilities and robustness of spirit. Jen Nessel The New York Times Book Review Hedges has the ability to climb into a child's mind and simply look around. Cynthia Hanson The Christian Science Monitor Hedges manages to make his novel a delightful romp through the age of seven with an endearing character who revels in life's smallest details. Patrick Beach The Des Moines Register Hedges absolutely shines.... An Ocean in Iowa is funny, touching, mysterious, and absurd. Liesel Litzenburger Detroit Free Press Peter Hedges's quietly devastating new novel...is unapolegetically simple and pure, a sadly perfect little tale. Dale Jones Cedar Rapids Gazette An Ocean in Iowa is a delightful read, full of fancy and vivid imagery of suburban Iowa in the 1960s. Michael Giltz Entertainment Weekly Funny, unaffected prose...'A.' Peter Hedges, the author of What's Eating Gilbert Grape, grew up in West Des Moines, Iowa. What Scotty Said When he was four or thereabouts, Scotty Ocean liked to stand on the piano bench while his mother, a painter of abstracts, played the only song she knew. She practiced it daily, her eyes closed, a Salem cigarette burning in the nearby ashtray. For Scotty there was no place better to be than at her side, where he might tug at her blouse or whisper in her ear or pound the black keys with his fists. But it hardly mattered what he did because when Joan Ocean played her song, everything -- even Scotty -- disappeared. One day he said something that brought her to a stop. She made him say it again. This time she watched closely as his pink lips shaped the sounds. She would never forget it. Later it would haunt her: his eyes, his voice, and the words, spoken simply... "Seven is going to be my year." Copyright © 1998 by Peter Hedges