Picture This: Neighborhood Sharks

Neighborhood Sharks: Hunting with the Great Whites of California's Farallon Islands by Katherine Roy

The cover alone should give you a clue to how awesome this nonfiction picture book is. First time writer (she's previously illustrated three other books) Katherine Roy starts off in the water with an unsuspecting sea lion:

"While their 800,000 human neighbors dine on steak, salad, and sandwiches, the white sharks hunt for their favorite meal." 

Building suspense through a number of perfectly framed spreads, Katherine Roy introduces us to the infamous predators with a dramatic punch as the great white finally catches his dinner, leaving a cloud of red in his wake.

"But how do they do it?"

"But how do they do it?" she asks. What follows is series of spreads focusing on specific traits of great whites (and their prey) that make them the formidable predators they are. She shows the reader how things like a warmer body temperature and a streamlined body work, with diagrams depicting blood vessels as pipes or comparing sharks to airplanes. The illustrations that accompany the clearly explained facts are consistently fantastic (and often contain a bloodied meal somewhere).

About halfway through Roy shifts gears (and what a well done transition it is) to describe the research performed in the Farallon Islands. Every September, great whites converge on these small islands, located just 30 miles from San Francisco. She describes how the scientists study the sharks (identifying them by their unique, dorsal fins, attaching tags to collect more information, etc) and what we have learned as a result of this research.

In the author's note, Roy describes being able to spent time with the Farallon scientists, learning from them, and even venturing out into the bay with them. Her interest in the subject is apparent not just from the note, but in the excellence of her work. She seamlessly combines exciting narrative with interesting information. The prose is interesting and clear. The illustrations dynamic and beautiful. Superb. I hope to see her win an award come the ALA Youth Media Awards.

Recent Read: El Deafo

El Deafo by Cece Bell

At the age of four, Cece loses her hearing after a bad bout of meningitis. She must now navigate the world with the help of powerful hearing aids that allow her to hear, but not always understand, the sounds around her.

As she enters a new school where everyone but her can hear, she becomes the deaf girl, trapped in a bubble that no one dares approach. Her very visible Phonic Ear seems to ward off her classmates, but she discovers that it gives her superpowers! Not only can she hear her teacher in the classroom, but anywhere in the building—scolding a student in the hallway, complaining to other teachers in the lounge, and even the “zzzip” “tinkle” sound of her teacher going to the bathroom! Thus her superhero alter ego, El Deafo, is born.

This is author-illustrator Cece Bell’s own story. Her deafness may set her apart, but the emotions she feels and challenges she faces are universal. What Cece desires most is to find the elusive true friend. It’s a journey that’s painful at times, but always told with a strong dose of humor.

Bell deftly communicates the experience of being deaf. First we see empty speech bubbles, then the unclear dialogue that she compares to listening to someone underwater (“I thig you loo goo”). She depicts what Cece thinks she hears next to what someone is actually saying (“doo yoo wan sumding do dring? We haff Jerry’s mop…shoes…or a goat” cherry pop, juice, coke). She goes to a special school to learn how to lip read and decipher visual, contextual, and gestural clues.

But Bell’s expressive skill does not end there. Her depictions of day to day life (which includes everything from TV to crushes) are relatable and funny. Cece’s struggle to find a good friend, though she’s at times trapped in a “bubble of loneliness,” while at others trapped with friends that don’t treat her very well, rings true.

In the author’s note Cece Bell talks about deafness and how this is a depiction of her unique experience and emotions. As a child, she believed for a time that her deafness made her different, disabled, and ashamed. But she came to appreciate it. “And being different?” she says, “That turned out to be the best part of all. I found that with a little creativity, and a lot of dedication, any difference can be turned into something amazing. Our differences are our superpowers."

I highly recommend this funny, heartwarming graphic novel. It’s the best children’s book I’ve read all year.

Recent Read: Through the Woods

Through the Woods by Emily Carroll

In one story from Emily Carroll’s Gothic collection of graphic short stories, a new bride arrives at a manor house that is now hers. At night she hears a sad song:

"I married my love in the springtime, but by summer he'd locked me away. He'd murdered me dead by the autumn, and by winter I was naught but decay. It's so cold where I am and so lonely but in loneliness I will remain, unloved, unavenged, and forgotten, until I am whole once again." 

She goes searching through the house--in the walls, under the floor. And this is what she finds:

It gets creepier, as do all of Emily Carroll’s stories in this haunting collection. The beautiful illustrations, as you can see, contribute to the eerie tone. I half expected some ghostly hand to reach out and pull me into its depths. A must for fans of horror and another great read for Halloween.