Shark Week Books & Fun Facts
In honor of Shark Week, we have put together a list of 5 shark facts with 5 YA books featuring sharks. Enjoy.
SHARK GIRL
by
On a sunny day in June, at the beach with her mom and brother, fifteen-year-old Jane Arrowood went for a swim. And then everything — absolutely everything — changed. Now she’s counting down the days until she returns to school with her fake arm, where she knows kids will whisper, “That’s her — that’s Shark Girl,” as she passes. In the meantime there are only questions: Why did this happen? Why her? What about her art? What about her life? In this striking first novel, Kelly Bingham uses poems, letters, telephone conversations, and newspaper clippings to look unflinchingly at what it’s like to lose part of yourself – and to summon the courage it takes to find yourself again. BUY ONLINE
SHARK FACT #1:
Sharks do not follow the same three-meals-a-day eating schedule as humans do. They eat when they find food, regardless of time and hunger
Surrounded By Sharks
by
When Davey wakes, just as the sun is rising, he can’t wait to slip out of the crammed hotel room he’s sharing with his family. Leave it to his parents and kid brother to waste an entire day of vacation sleeping in! Davey heads straight for the beach, book and glasses in hand, not bothering to leave a note. As the sparkling ocean entices him, he decides to test the water, never mind that “No Swimming” sign. But as the waves pull him farther from shore, Davey finds himself surrounded by water — and something else, too. Something circling below the surface, watching, waiting. It’s just a matter of time. BUY ONLINE
SHARK FACT #2:
Between 30 and 80 percent of a shark’s flesh is made of water. A protein network gives the flesh its structure
Shark Bait
by Jenn Cooksey
Previously homeschooled Camie Ramsey is being shoved into the shark-infested waters of public high school, where even helium filled, penguin bespeckled arm floaties likely won’t help keep her inexperienced, fifteen-year old head above water in that rip current of hormones and emotions.
Camie’s worldly wisdom might be severely lacking (i.e., the closest she’s come to being kissed was sitting too close to the TV whilst Jake Ryan leaned in to give Samantha that fateful 16th birthday kiss), but she does understand her only hope for survival is if she’s thrown some kind of “social” life preserver before she sinks like a freaking rock. However, what will her fate be when she endeavors to flag down the only lifeguard on duty, the enormously popular and ridiculously beautiful Tristan Daniels? The most sought after and virtually most unattainable guy in school who not only makes Camie’s heart flatline on a recurring basis, he’s also the one guy who seemingly doesn’t know she exists. BUY ONLINE
SHARK FACT #3:
A shark’s size relates to where it hunts: smaller sharks feed near the ocean floor, while larger sharks hunt in the middle ocean depths
Soul Surfer
by Bethany Hamilton
They say Bethany Hamilton has saltwater in her veins. How else could one explain the passion that drives her to surf? How else could one explain that nothing—not even the loss of her arm—could come between her and the waves? That Halloween morning in Kauai, Hawaii, Bethany responded to the shark’s stealth attack with the calm of a girl with God on her side. Pushing pain and panic aside, she began to paddle with one arm, focusing on a single thought: “Get to the beach….” And when the first thing Bethany wanted to know after surgery was “When can I surf again?” it became clear that her spirit and determination were part of a greater story—a tale of courage and faith that this soft-spoken girl would come to share with the world. BUY ONLINE
SHARK FACT #4:
Whale sharks are much larger than the average shark, but are friendly filter feeders, using their rows of teeth to eat plankton, not humans
Sharks & Boys
by Kristen Tracy
When Enid leaves town to follow her boyfriend, Wick, who she suspects on cheating on her, she doesn’t expect to end up at a wild party on a houseboat. But before she’s discovered as a stowaway, a hurricane strikes, and the teenagers are carried miles from the shore and shipwrecked. What follows is a harrowing, yet heartwarming, story of survival, as the teens battle hypothermia, dehydration, and man-eating sharks—and along the way, confront their own deepest secrets, including their catalytic roles in the disaster. BUY ONLINE.
SHARK FACT #5:
Punching a shark in the nose or poking its eyes can help to fend it off during an attack. Most sharks don’t want to work hard for their food