Author: Lehua Parker
Pages: 185
Format: Hardcover, paperback
Publisher: Jolly Fish Press
Book Source: Provided by Publisher
Category: Youth Fantasy
Style: Easy, conversational style with lots of Hawaiian pidgin usage
Synopsis from GoodReads:
On the surface, despite his unusual allergies, Zader is an average eleven year old boy with typical challenges of fitting in with his peers, getting into a good prep school, and maintaining his relationship with his surfing crazed brother. In reality, Zader is Niuhi, a shark with the ability to turn into a person. As he matures and begins to adapt to his “allergies” in ways that make it easier to live a normal life, Zader’s world begins to turn upside down—he will not only have to come to terms with who he is, but what he is. . . . moreMy Take:
What is the recipe for a really big hit in children's literature? Below, I list what has been proven to work in the past.- Make the protagonist a defacto orphan. Kahana, an aging, skinny Hawaian steeped in the ancient ways, finds a baby boy out on a reef just hours after birth and convinces his great-niece (who has just given birth to a boy herself) to adopt him. They name him Alexander Westin and call him “Zader” for short. Surrounded by a loving, supportive family cannot make Zader anything but a fish out of water.
