Title: Shark Girl
Author: Kelly Bingham
Contemporary Realistic Fiction #1
What can I say? I
love sharks; so, when I picked up Shark
Girl by Kelly Bingham I was very intrigued. When I found out that the book
was also written in free verse poetry, I knew that I had to read it. Sharks and
poetry? It must have been written for me. I can honestly say that I enjoyed the
book. The story is about a young, teenage girl named Jane who innocently goes
on a swim with her family during the summer. That is when everything changes
and Jane becomes a victim. During the shark attack she loses her arm, and for
someone who is an aspiring artist – this is devastating! To make matters worse,
her attack was filmed and put on the news for everyone to see. Now she has
sympathy cards, letters, and flowers from people she doesn’t even know.
Everyone wants to be her friend but still everyone whispers and no one seems to
care that she can’t even button her pants with ease anymore.
I found this story to
be truly touching and eerily realistic. I felt like I was reading about an
actual event, an actual teenage girl that experienced this. Though I couldn’t
relate to the attack first-hand (though I can tell you, I don’t plan on getting
in the ocean anytime soon!), I did relate to the alienation Jane felt. I
believe this is something all teenagers can relate to regardless of their
situation which is what makes this book so appealing. It is fun, interesting,
and different while being completely relatable at the same time. I would
definitely recommend this book for 6th grade and up. It’s excellent
and shows children that telling a story in poetry is just as effective as
traditional story writing.
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