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A review by bickie
Julia and the Shark by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
4.0
Julia and her family moves to a remote lighthouse for 2 months the summer before she turns 11 so that her father can automate the light. Her mother, a marine biologist, takes advantage of the opportunity to chase the elusive Greenland Shark in hopes that it will yield its secrets to longevity. While Julia begins a friendship with local bully-bait, Kin, Julia's father struggles with all his wires, and Julia's mother becomes even more manic in her shark quest. Julia begins having nightmares about the shark, written in italics with the words shaped like the shark like a concrete poem. Tom de Freston's illustrations are gorgeous, evoking mysteries of the sea and sky (stars and starlings), and they break up the text quite a bit, making it perhaps more accessible to more reluctant readers.
I found the constant discussion of needing to wash Julia's father's underpants perplexing. What about hers and her mom's? Perhaps it was done for laughs, perhaps it was supposed to be some kind of inside joke between Julia and her mother, though it didn't read that way.
Told in first person through Julia's voice, which I found endearing. Addresses complexities such as saving instant noodle containers and buying candy in bulk to avoid using too much plastic while also eating sausage rolls by the dozen. Muses on the limitations of binary systems (mom is all words and science and possibilities, dad is all numbers and practicality).
CW:
I found the constant discussion of needing to wash Julia's father's underpants perplexing. What about hers and her mom's? Perhaps it was done for laughs, perhaps it was supposed to be some kind of inside joke between Julia and her mother, though it didn't read that way.
Told in first person through Julia's voice, which I found endearing. Addresses complexities such as saving instant noodle containers and buying candy in bulk to avoid using too much plastic while also eating sausage rolls by the dozen. Muses on the limitations of binary systems (mom is all words and science and possibilities, dad is all numbers and practicality).
CW: