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CM . . .
. Volume XXI Number 29 . . . . April 3, 2015
excerpt:
Middle schooler Ana Wright’s life is anything but ordinary. She lives in a zoo, works in a shark tank, and has to figure out a way to have her first kiss by the end of the summer. When she’s assigned to work with the snobby, popular and confident Ashley in the zoo’s new shark exhibit for the entire summer, she thinks her summer is ruined. Not only is Ashley Ana’s worst enemy, but Ana’s best friend Liv recently moved half-way around the world to New Zealand and is no longer around to be her supportive side-kick. To complicate the summer, Ana and Liv have a pact that they will both have their first kiss before they begin high school. The problem is that, since Ashley has moved to New Zealand and into a new school system, she is able to skip a grade and enter high school early, meaning Ana has less time than she planned on to secure that first kiss. Ana does have her eye on a boy named Kevin but none of the nerves necessary to make a move, especially without the support of her best friend. Just when it seems Ana and Ashley could possibly become friends and move past their differences, their potential friendship is sabotaged when mysterious things start happening at the zoo. First, the sea horses are overfed, then, the hermit crabs are let loose. Ana and Ashley blame each other, but is it possible someone else is behind the mishaps? How to Outswim a Shark Without a Snorkel is the perfect summer read for middle schoolers and ultimately a story about living outside of one’s comfort zone and finding friendship when you least expect it. Jess Keating has written a truly relatable story that kids will breeze through and look for more. Readers will laugh out loud, swoon over summer college student Logan along with Ana and Ashley, and may just long to visit a zoo along the way. Highly Recommended. Courtney Novotny is a Community Librarian.
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