MG – Wrecker

Hiaasen, Carl. Wrecker. Alfred A. Knopf, 2023. 978-0-593-37629-4. 323 p. $21.99. Grades 6-9.

Fifteen-year-old Valdez Jones VIII, who goes by the nickname Wrecker, takes pride in his family’s legacy as shipwreck salvagers. The salt water and sea air are in his blood, and he spends as much time as possible fishing on his skiff in the waters surrounding Key West. Luckily for him, online schooling due to the COVID-19 pandemic means he has much more free time on the boat. During one such fishing outing in his boat, Wrecker helps a speedboat stuck in the shoal. He does not think too much about it until he bumps into the silver-mustached boat owner at the cemetery where Wrecker works as a part-time headstone cleaner. Silver Mustache wants Wrecker to keep an eye on a newly built mausoleum but soon tasks Wrecker with other jobs that are sneaky and illegal. Unknowingly, Wrecker becomes involved in a dangerous smuggling ring, and he must outsmart the smugglers to protect himself and his family.

THOUGHTS: Hiaasen’s Wrecker is an action-packed novel that will delight middle grade students. Intertwined with Wrecker’s adventures are topical situations involving COVID-19 vaccinations, ocean life preservation, and the history of racism on Key West.

Adventure

Elem. – Kodi

Cullum, Jared. Kodi. Top Shelf Productions. 2020. 978-1-603-09467-2. 176 p. $14.99. Grades 2-5.

While out on a walk near her grandmother’s Alaska summer house, comics-loving Katya encounters an enormous kodiak bear with its leg pinned under a fallen tree. Working together, Katya and “Meema” free the bear and mend his wounded paw. Katya and Kodi become fast friends (and an expert fishing team), so both are crestfallen when she must return to Seattle. When Kodi sees a tourist with a Seattle t-shirt, he realizes that stowing away on a cruise ship will deliver him to Katya. But finding a small girl in a big city requires some help; enter a fisherman named Joshua, who forms his own unique bond with the bear. Jared Cullum’s gorgeous watercolors portray a range of settings, emotions, and action with evocative style. Katya’s vulnerability is evident in her big eyes and slight build; her strength shows in her artwork and steadfastness. Kodi is both comically oversized and brawny, but gentle. Joshua, disabled in a previous fishing accident, is clever and kind. Readers who fly through the pages to find out what happens next will want to re-read, pausing to admire the mountain streams, city skylines, and ocean waves.

THOUGHTS: This beautifully illustrated graphic novel for young readers is also an homage to the power of friendship and creativity. Don’t miss this one!

Graphic Novel          Amy V. Pickett, Ridley SD