Dive into Danger (Animal Rescues, 2) - Softcover

Halls, Kelly Milner

9781467795654: Dive into Danger (Animal Rescues, 2)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1467795658 ISBN 13: 9781467795654

Publisher: Darby Creek Pub, 2016

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Pudge's dad might love being on the ocean and taking care of wildlife, but Pudge would rather be playing World of Warcraft. When he meets an intriguing girl through the game and gets caught playing WoW during school, Pudge is suspended. Now he's forced to join his dad at work surveying whales. When they spot a mother whale tangled in a fishing net, Pudge has to put his real-world survival skills to the test.

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Review

"The second book in the middle-grade Animal Rescues series explores a boy's adolescent insecurities and his uncomfortable relationship with his father. Fourteen-year-old Austin, overweight and nicknamed Pudge, is an animal lover, good student, and enthusiastic 'World of Warcraft' gamer. His mother left when he was young, and his father, a biologist for the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, thinks 'video games are a waste of energy.' When Austin is caught gaming during school hours and suspended for two days, his father takes him to work, where they row out into the bay to survey whales. There, they encounter a humpback whale badly entangled in a fishing net, and Austin finds the real-life courage to swim next to the whale and cut her free, earning his father's respect. An odd scene occurs when Austin, too out-of-shape to heave himself back into the boat, simply allows himself to begin to drift away while carrying on an imaginary conversation with a gamer-girl he met previously online--it's unclear whether Halls intends this passive acceptance of possible death as a commentary on role-playing games. Despite this moment of confusion, though, readers will empathize with Austin's first-person, present-tense narration as he sorts through the challenges of finding his own strengths and convictions. Aimed toward a sensitive adolescent male audience, this story has a straightforward, interesting plot and simple, clear language."--Kirkus Reviews

--Journal

About the Author

Kelly Milner Halls is a full-time children's writer, specializing in quirky topics for reluctant readers. Kelly lives in Washington with her two daughters, one dog, too many cats, and a four-foot rock iguana.

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