Shark Girl
By (Author) Kelly Bingham
Candlewick Press,U.S.
Candlewick Press,U.S.
1st June 2010
United States
Young Adult
Fiction
FIC
Paperback
288
Width 141mm, Height 210mm, Spine 20mm
261g
A teenager struggles through physical loss to the start of acceptance in an absorbing, artful novel at once honest and insightful, wrenching and redemptive.
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 shes counting down the days until she returns to school with her fake arm, where she knows kids will whisper, "Thats her thats 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 its like to lose part of yourself and to summon the courage it takes to find yourself again.
A provocative portraitpowerful without being maudlin or preachy.
Publishers Weekly (starred review)
This engaging read will entice enthusiastic and reluctant readers; the drama of the shark attack will hook them, and Janes inner journey will hold them till the end.
School Library Journal (starred review)