Up close with the ocean's most fearsome and famous predator and the scientists who study them—just twenty-six miles from the Golden Gate Bridge!
A few miles from San Francisco lives a population of the ocean's largest and most famous predators. Each fall, while the city's inhabitants dine on steaks, salads, and sandwiches, the great white sharks return to California's Farallon Islands to dine on their favorite meal: the seals that live on the island's rocky coasts. Massive, fast, and perfectly adapted to hunting after 11 million years of evolution, the great whites are among the planet's most fearsome, fascinating, and least understood animals.
In the fall of 2012, Katherine Roy visited the Farallons with the scientists who study the islands' shark population. She witnessed seal attacks, observed sharks being tagged in the wild, and got an up close look at the dramatic Farallons—a wildlife refuge that is strictly off-limits to all but the scientists who work there. Neighborhood Sharks is an intimate portrait of the life cycle, biology, and habitat of the great white shark, based on the latest research and an up-close visit with these amazing animals.
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The New York Times Book Review - Maria Russo
The book's watercolor illustrations jump out with a fierce beauty…
Publishers Weekly
★ 10/06/2014
Drama and intrigue infuse Roy’s study of migrating great white sharks. Each year, the sharks return to San Francisco: “While their 800,000 human neighbors dine on steak, salad, and sandwiches, the white sharks hunt for their favorite meal.” With violence and wild beauty, one of Roy’s sharks attacks a local elephant seal, sending forth a bubbling gush of blood. Elsewhere, Roy playfully compares the characteristics of a shark’s body to those of a jet plane, and cutaway images display a shark’s internal anatomy. Roy’s reverence for her subject is evident in her majestic underwater scenes, while light humor and rich content round out a standout resource for shark enthusiasts. Ages 7–11. Agent: Stephen Barr, Writers House. (Sept.)
From the Publisher
“For this debut picture book, the author joined researchers who tag and follow these sharks, and she's distilled their findings in a way that's sure to attract young readers . . . Full of the eww factor, up-to-date facts and kid appeal, this splendid, gory introduction is not for the faint of heart!” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“Roy's reverence for her subject is evident in her majestic underwater scenes, while light humor and rich content round out a standout resource for shark enthusiasts.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Look closely at the cover of this impressive account of great white sharks off the Northern California coast: that bright red in the illustration is blood trailing from a chunk of freshly killed immature elephant seal--and a signal that Roy's book will fully examine the sometimes chilling, always fascinating details of what makes this animal a predator.” —The Horn Book, starred review
“Accurate and captivating . . . Shark lovers of all ages will enjoy poring over the intense, vivid images.” —School Library Journal, starred review
“This engaging narrative describes the annual white shark migration to San Francisco's Farallon Islands . . . Numerous shark-themed informational books have been published in recent years, and this unique treatment deserves a spot on most library shelves.” —Booklist
“Roy explores how this region become a popular dining venue for sharks.” —BCCB
Children's Literature - Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz
A brief text sets the stage for the return of the great white sharks to San Francisco every September. Thirty miles away on the Farallon Islands is a sanctuary for seals and sea lions, meals for the sharks. Along with the words and the striking single and double-page paintings of the sharks and their prey however, Roy has interspersed lengthy, detailed information on related subjects such as an analysis of “the perfect body” of the white sharks, their warm blood, their vision, their endless teeth, and projectile jaws. Scientists tag sharks with transmitters as the sharks are attacking dummy seals. After years of research, we now understand the sharks’ place in the food chain and their migration patterns. There are two books in one here, the “story” and the wealth of additional factual information. The illustrations for the story are naturalistic and in the case of two wordless double-page spreads, knockouts. Detailed drawings help reinforce the facts. Additional information on tagging, the Farallon Islands, and the sharks is included, along with a map and additional resources. Do not miss the end pages. Reviewer: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz; Ages 6 to 9.
School Library Journal
★ 07/01/2014
Gr 2–4—In preparation for this well-researched book on great white sharks, Roy joined scientists in the Farallon Islands to study the animals near San Francisco. Though shark lovers of all ages will enjoy poring over the intense, vivid images, there's a lot of information that older students will particularly appreciate. Readers will learn about many aspects of great whites—their anatomy, how they hunt, and their place in the ecosystem, as well as how scientists study them. The action-packed illustrations, rendered in watercolor and pencil with some digital work, are both accurate and captivating. Pair this one with Gail Gibbons's Sharks (Holiday House, 1992) or Seymour Simon's Incredible Sharks (Chronicle, 2003). Additional information in the form of films, books, and online resources are appended, including a link to a live webcam of the Farallon Islands. An excellent introduction.—Martha Rico, El Paso ISD, TX
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2014-07-29
Every fall, great white sharks return to feed on the seals and sea lions that migrate to the Farallon Islands just off the San Francisco coast, providing an opportunity for scientific study. Combining informative text with expressive paintings, done in ink, pencil, watercolor and gouache, Roy explains how these apex predators function. The endpapers set the stage, looking out toward the distant islands through the Golden Gate Bridge in front and back at the California shoreline from high over the islands at the end. In an early series of stunning paintings, the shark's meal is revealed in three spreads before the wordless fourth shows the strike; the water swirls, and the seal is captured in the shark's toothy mouth. Bloody water surrounds the shark in the next picture. Subsequent pages explain why the seal is a perfect meal and highlight the shark's streamlined body, warmed blood, superior vision, endless teeth, and projectile jaws that contribute to its success as a hunter. For this debut picture book, the author joined researchers who tag and follow these sharks, and she's distilled their findings in a way that's sure to attract young readers. The backmatter provides further information, sources and suggested reading. Full of the eww factor, up-to-date facts and kid appeal, this splendid, gory introduction is not for the faint of heart! (Informational picture book. 7-10)
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