Tag Archives: Florida

Elem.- Great Carrier Reef

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Stremer, Jessica. Great Carrier Reef. Illustrated by Gordy Wright. Holiday House, 2023. 978-0-823-45268-2. $18.99. 40 p. Grades K-5.

The USS Oriskany, nicknamed “The Mighty O” spent 8,784 days in active service as an aircraft carrier for the US Navy. In 2006, scientists were looking for a way to improve ocean life off the coast of Pensacola, Florida. Reef animals were disappearing due to lack of natural protection. Reefs around the world are in danger from pollution, ocean warming, and overfishing. The USS Oriskany was called out of retirement to be converted into an artificial reef. A team of over 150 scientists, engineers, and workers transformed the ship, removing toxic chemicals, metals, and paints. The carrier was transported 20 nautical miles off of the coast. Using precise explosive techniques, The Mighty O – once thought to be unsinkable – was flooded so that it would sink to a sandy area of the ocean’s floor. The artificial reef is now home to a wide variety of ocean life. End pages include additional information about reefs, marine life, the history of the USS Oriskany, selected sources, index, and information on preserving and saving natural reefs.

THOUGHTS: This title presents a very simple and engaging explanation of the need for reefs, the destruction of reefs around the world, and the process used to design and create an artificial reef from a retired Navy carrier. Beautifully illustrations by Gordy Wright enhance the text.

551.424 Islands and Reefs

MG – Wrecker

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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

YA – Margo Zimmerman Gets the Girl

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Shrum, Brianna R., and Sara Waxelbaum. Margo Zimmerman Gets the Girl. Inkyard Press, 2023. 978-1-335-45365-5 . 304 p. $19.99. Grades 9-12.

During a party game of spin the bottle – with her boyfriend Chad in the circle – Margo Zimmerman realizes something: She really likes kissing Viv Carter. Margo is gay. After doing research on how to be part of the gay culture and lifestyle, really a few months of failed internet searches, Margo goes to a local club’s teen night dressed in her gayest attire. Pushing her autism brain aside, Margo gives it her best shot and fails epically. All she manages to do is amuse fellow swimmer Abbie Sokoloff, a queer classmate with quite a reputation. Determined to learn from the best, Margo asks Abbie to teach Margo her how to be gay. It isn’t until Abbie needs something from Margo – help improving her grade in AP US History class to prevent the revoking of her admission to Florida International University – that the two strike a deal. Gay tutoring for AP US tutoring, and Margo is more than ready to learn and to school Abbie. As the two (from very different groups at school) get to know each other, they also become friends, possibly more. But do opposites attract and can these two very different teens open up to each other, or will this friendship implode?

THOUGHTS: Readers will root for both of these characters and their quirks as they get to know each other and themselves. With graduation only a few months away and mature relationships, this romance is best suited for high school readers.

Romance

Elem./MG – Swim Team

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Christmas, Johnnie. Swim Team. HarperAlley, 2022. 978-0-063-05677-0. 256 p. $6.99. Grades 3-6.

Bree and her single dad, Ralph, move from Brooklyn to Palmetto Shores, Florida, where he has both an IT training program and a job as a delivery driver lined up. To calm her nerves about moving and starting at a new school, Bree focuses on her favorite things (doing homework with her dad, cooking, and the library), but sometimes intrusive negative thoughts make her doubt herself. Bree, who can’t swim and hates pools, is crestfallen to be placed in the only open elective at Enith Brigitha Middle School: Swim 101. Now her anxious internal dialogue, depicted as heavily outlined, grayscale thought bubbles that are in stark contrast to her sun-drenched surroundings, really run wild. When Bree accidentally falls into the condominium pool and is rescued by her neighbor, Ms. Etta (who happens to be an outstanding swimmer), Bree realizes that she’s found the perfect swimming instructor. Ms. Etta agrees to give Bree lessons – and an informal mini-history of Black people and swimming. Bree surprises everyone, including herself, by winning her first race. Despite some botched flipturns and belly flops, Bree develops into a strong member of Enith Brigitha’s team, which suddenly has a shot at the state championship. Meanwhile, the school district plans to sell the land where the pool is located to Smoothie Palace, but if the swim team starts winning, maybe the plans will change. A rival-to-“swim sister” subplot reinforces the theme of teamwork and adds a layer of drama that middle grade readers will love. 

THOUGHTS: Swimming is often under-represented among sports stories, and this one works on every level: an endearing protagonist, bright artwork (including gorgeous underwater panels), representation of young Black swimmers, and exciting races. Readers of Living With Viola by Rosena Fung and New Kid by Jerry Craft will adore it!

Graphic Novel          Amy V. Pickett, Ridley SD