Shark Girl **1/2

By Kelly Bingham.
Published 2007 by Candlewick Press.
276 pages.

I "chose" this book as it was the only one left. The librarian at my school asked the teachers to do some reading over the summer and create questions about the books so that her Battle of the Books team can prepare for competition.

The book did not look so interesting. It has a cover of a young girl with a bikini on showing only ( this is relevant) one side of her torso. I was thinking when I saw it that it would be a 'tween romance.

It is better than I thought it would be. It is a story about a girl that was attacked by a shark (not a spoiler since this happens on the 3rd page of the book) and her efforts to cope with the changes in her life that resulted from losing her arm.

I think the young girl was a realistic character. Her concerns seemed real. She was not painted as a hero. She was moody and bitter. She was frustrated about her abilities and afraid to go to school with her friends. Eventually she does learn to cope with these issues, but it is a difficult struggle. For that reason, I think she was portrayed in a realistc way.

It is a quick read. The story is presented a variety of ways. The author uses letters, poems and newspaper articles to tell the story. Though the majority of the tale is told in poem form. Each poem has a title, but I would say that the poems are more terse and truncated prose than poetry.



A reccomended book for any young teenager in your family, even for boys.


Here's another summary about the book.