Something's Fishy

Orca Echoes

by Jeff Szpirglas, Danielle Saint-Onge, Dave Whamond (Illustrator)

Jamie loves sharks. He reads about them. He talks about them. Sometimes he even pretends to be a shark. Too bad no one else wants to join his Shark Club. His peers and parents are quickly growing tired of his current obsession.

When Jamie's teacher, Mr. Claxton, brings in a new class pet, Jamie is put in charge. But Jamie has an accident while feeding it, and everyone becomes upset with him. He needs to find a way to make things right. In the end, he comes up with a solution that pleases both his teacher and classmates, a solution that also gives Jamie an opportunity to share his newest obsession―lizards.

64 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Jeff Szpirglas has had a varied career. He's shoveled manure, worked in a steelyard (he hails from Hamilton, after all), and even frolicked in the offices at CTV Television and Chirp, chickaDEE, and OWL magazines, where he was the kids' page editor. His manure-shoveling days long behind him, Jeff currently teaches children by day and writes books/fights supervillains by night.

Reviews

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jamie is obsessed with sharks. His family and friends are getting rather tired of everything being about sharks. Jamie is super excited when the new class pet is a fish and the teacher picks the name he suggested. Of course, that name is Jaws. Jamie has a bit of a problem when he tries to feed Jaws for the first time. Now he has to figure out how to make everything better.

This book is a great intermediate book for boys especially. It shows that even kids with some behavioral issues can be trusted with important tasks. And even if they make mistakes there is always a solution.