Book Nook

When Shark Week is not enough, take a bite out of these books featuring the sometimes fearsome, sometimes fearless, and sometimes friendly fish.

Ages 5-8

Slickety Quick: Poems About Sharks

Written by Skila Brown

Illustrated by Bob Kolar

Get ready for some shark snark! Poems in different forms educate and entertain readers about 14 species of sharks, from the infamous great white shark to the lesser-known cookiecutter shark. Each page spread is designed with under-the-sea color schemes that will make you want to dive right into the water — shark-infested or not. The placement of each poem around the sleek shark illustrations adds even more visual interest to this fin-tastic picture book. Quick facts are provided about each ocean predator for budding marine biologists. This is one book you will want to read out loud over and over again for the rhythm, the rhymes, and the reality of who lives beneath the ocean’s surface. (Candlewick, 2016, hardcover, $16.99)

Ages 8-12

The Great White Shark Scientists

Written by Sy Montgomery

Photographed by Keith Ellenbogen

Hop aboard the Aleutian Dream and cruise off the coast of Massachusetts with Dr. Greg Skomal, a biologist interested in learning more about why numbers of great white sharks are declining. He is the featured scientist in this Scientists in the Field series title. Dr. Skomal also wants to educate the world about the fact that the great whites are misunderstood, and are generally calm, despite their ferocious portrayal in pop culture. The author and photographer join the mission to share information about the equipment and science used to track the animals before they head off to Guadalupe, Mexico, to photograph sharks underwater. Not only is the writing engaging in this non-fiction volume, but the high-quality photographs are the quality of those found in National Geographic publications. With diagrams, maps, a bibliography, and more, this book can be used for research papers as well as at-home leisure reading for those who want to feel like they are part of a scientific expedition. Additional shark facts are provided, such as the number of shark species in the world (around 500) and the number of shark teeth produced in a lifetime (around 30,000). Now that’s a lot to chew on! (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, hardcover, $18.99)

Ages 12-18

Adrift

Written by Paul Griffin

When Matt hops into a small boat with three other teens to save a fourth who went surfboarding in an Atlantic storm, he doesn’t expect to run out of gas. Or food. Or water. It doesn’t help that no one may know they are missing … or that sharks are circling, waiting for the right chance to strike. This survival-at-sea story is addicting, between the characters turning on each other, the elements turning on them all, and the countdown to find out if anyone on land will realize the teens need to be saved. The interspersed short chapters from rescue searchers, police, and family members in email, letter, and transmission formats make this a great choice for reluctant readers who desire constant action with great storytelling and writing — and can handle a little sharky gore. (Scholastic, 2017, paperback, $9.99)