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A review by emdoux
Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916 by Michael Capuzzo
4th grade booktalk
Some of you may already be familiar with the I Survived… series, and maybe you read the one about the shark attacks of 1916. Those books are fictional, though they’re based on true events, but the book about which I’m about to talk is a closer look at those attacks – and it’s nonfiction. Everything in the book is terrifyingly true, and you’ll learn much more than if you read the I Survived book – about both the attacks, about living in 1916 New Jersey, and about sharks themselves.
But for those of you who haven’t read the I Survived book (and you absolutely do not have to in order to read or enjoy this book) – let me give you some backstory. The place: the Jersey Shore. The time: summer 1916. The weather: HOT. REALLY, REALLY, REALLY HOT. So what do you think most people did with their free time? They went to the beach to swim in the ocean. And 4th of July weekend, when most people did not have to work. The 4th of July that year was on a Tuesday, so many people celebrated the holiday beginning on the 1st, which was a Saturday. The Pennsylvania Railroad, which spanned several states, made it possible for more people to go to the beach than ever before –thousands of out of towners headed to the beautiful New Jersey shore to spend their long weekend floating and swimming in the cool ocean water.
But no one knew about another beach visitor until it was too late. The first to encounter this visitor, a young man named Charles Vansant, brutally attacked by the surprise visitor: a great white shark. In only three feet of water, Charles was bitten in the leg, screaming for help.
Curiously, after the first brutal bite, the shark backed off – shark biologists believe that this tactic in shark attacks allows the victims to bleed to death – a much easier kill for a shark than fighting and biting until the prey is dead. Several men leapt into the water to pull Charles out, at which point the shark attacked again, and a deadly game of tug of war began. Though the beachgoers won the struggle, Charles Vansant’s wounds were too deep, and after being brought to a nearby hotel for medical treatment, he died.
Let me stress to you now that you should not choose this book if you do not want to read about the attack – and others – in gory detail. But let me also stress that you should not choose this book if the only thing about it that interests you is reading about brutal shark attacks – because there is much more to this story than teeth and blood. This slice of history is nothing to be entertained by – Close to Shore is an account of a never-before-experienced American terror – The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916.
Some of you may already be familiar with the I Survived… series, and maybe you read the one about the shark attacks of 1916. Those books are fictional, though they’re based on true events, but the book about which I’m about to talk is a closer look at those attacks – and it’s nonfiction. Everything in the book is terrifyingly true, and you’ll learn much more than if you read the I Survived book – about both the attacks, about living in 1916 New Jersey, and about sharks themselves.
But for those of you who haven’t read the I Survived book (and you absolutely do not have to in order to read or enjoy this book) – let me give you some backstory. The place: the Jersey Shore. The time: summer 1916. The weather: HOT. REALLY, REALLY, REALLY HOT. So what do you think most people did with their free time? They went to the beach to swim in the ocean. And 4th of July weekend, when most people did not have to work. The 4th of July that year was on a Tuesday, so many people celebrated the holiday beginning on the 1st, which was a Saturday. The Pennsylvania Railroad, which spanned several states, made it possible for more people to go to the beach than ever before –thousands of out of towners headed to the beautiful New Jersey shore to spend their long weekend floating and swimming in the cool ocean water.
But no one knew about another beach visitor until it was too late. The first to encounter this visitor, a young man named Charles Vansant, brutally attacked by the surprise visitor: a great white shark. In only three feet of water, Charles was bitten in the leg, screaming for help.
Curiously, after the first brutal bite, the shark backed off – shark biologists believe that this tactic in shark attacks allows the victims to bleed to death – a much easier kill for a shark than fighting and biting until the prey is dead. Several men leapt into the water to pull Charles out, at which point the shark attacked again, and a deadly game of tug of war began. Though the beachgoers won the struggle, Charles Vansant’s wounds were too deep, and after being brought to a nearby hotel for medical treatment, he died.
Let me stress to you now that you should not choose this book if you do not want to read about the attack – and others – in gory detail. But let me also stress that you should not choose this book if the only thing about it that interests you is reading about brutal shark attacks – because there is much more to this story than teeth and blood. This slice of history is nothing to be entertained by – Close to Shore is an account of a never-before-experienced American terror – The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916.