Review by Booklist Review
The teeming swamps of southwestern Florida play a large role in this rollicking tale of three young Gilded Age naturalists who discover and then struggle to protect a mother octopus--a new species--and her frisky brood. In hopes of seeing lots of exotic wildlife as well as keeping his asthma from developing into the pneumonia that killed his father, white 12-year-old Algie arrives at the isolated Hotel Paraíso--just in time to hear that it's being shut down due to a rash of eerie incidents and marine die-offs. Algie joins the owner's half Cuban daughters Francisca and Lourdes, themselves avid amateur "field biologists," to investigate, and the mystery quickly leads to watery adventures and misadventures capped by a thrilling encounter with a huge, friendly cephalopod the trio names, appropriately, Octavia. How can they possibly keep her and eight curious, rambunctious offspring, who are all too catlike in character as well as size, from being captured or killed by grown-ups? San Miguel concocts a comical and exciting tale that leads to a wild, suspenseful, storm-tossed climax while weaving in thoughtful ruminations on the necessity of giving science, people, and nature their just dues, too. Audiences will be beguiled by the healthy doses of natural science and a protagonist readers (particularly perceptive ones) will cheer on, both for his ability to overcome deep anxieties in the clutch and his conviction that people, like nature, deserve respect.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
A Jules Verne aesthetic and themes of contemporary environmentalism underpin this sensationalist sea-monster melodrama set in 1890s Florida. When 12-year-old Chicagoan Algie Emsworth, an asthmatic aspiring naturalist, arrives at the Hotel Paraíso, his mother expects him to spend the winter "bathing quietly in the mineral springs." The resort is anything but tranquil, though: sea-life carcasses line the beach, a toxic red tide exacerbates Algie's condition, and a curse stalks the hotel. When Algie rescues a bioluminescent octopus from the clutches of whiskered explorer Prof. Ransom Champion, the creature takes a shine to Algie. So do tween field biologists-in-training Frankie and Lulu Davenport, daughters of the millionaire resort owner, and the trio sets out to foil the fiendish Professor, who kills birds for the plume trade and seeks a "mystery beast." For all the mocking of celebrity ambition and the connections made between greed and environmental destruction, colonialism remains strangely unexamined herein. But slapstick-brimming chapters, literary references, and scenery-chewing Victorian characters populate the third-person telling as debut author San Miguel reinforces interspecies care, crafting an eco-friendly steampunk thriller. Frankie and Lulu are Cuban American; all other characters read as white or racially ambiguous. Ages 8--12. Agent: Hannah Fergesen, KT Literary. (June)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 4--7--Twelve-year-old Algie Emsworth, who is white, relishes his stay at the Hotel Paraiso, a health resort in Florida in the late 19th century. Assuming his asthma will shorten his life, Algie resents his brother Everett and his mother's coddling and hopes to gain juvenile renown with a paper published by The Chicago Academy of Natural History. Soon after arrival, Algie rescues an anthropomorphic octopus and meets the millionaire owner Aloysius Davenport's two daughters, Frankie and Lulu, described as half Cuban with blonde and curly brunette hair, respectively. Sharing a mutual interest in field biology, the three join forces to uncover the mystery of dying sea life, and to figure out what the unscrupulous Professor Champion, Madam Maximus (head of the Aerial Acrobats), and her performer Angel O'Dare are planning. The octopus is a great sidekick, picking locks by tentacle. Algie has a winsome urgency that makes him likable. Staring his mortality down, Algie faces a limited window to make his mark on the world. His relationships with his family and new friends are realistic and evolve as Algie, Frankie, and Lulu face dangerous adults. In the life-threatening denouement, Algie displays a nuanced empathy for others. There may be a few too many elements thrown in the mix, but the story bears them moderately well. VERDICT While a Calpurnia Tate--style historical fiction has a particular audience, this boasts a rich setting, an ecological mystery, and enough character development to recommend it.--Caitlin Augusta
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A budding young Gilded Age naturalist discovers more than he ever dreamed possible. Twelve-year-old Algie Emsworth of Chicago has asthma and possibly the tuberculosis that killed his father three years earlier. His mother, hovering and anxious, decides to take him and his 16-year-old brother, Everett, to the Hotel Paraíso in Florida for the winter season. As the steamer is about to dock, Algie sees two men in a boat catch a small octopus. Overhearing one of the men saying he will cut it up for bait, Algie jumps overboard to save the little creature--which he does, only finding out later that the man is a famed naturalist and author whose magazine adventure stories have enthralled him. On his way to the hotel, Algie meets Lulu and Frankie, the rambunctious, highly competent Cuban and White American daughters of the hotel's owner. Meanwhile, strange things are occurring around the hotel, including odd lights and washed-up sea creatures, and as the three children sleuth, they discover something incredible. Algie (whose name astute readers may figure out holds significance) must come to grips with his physical weaknesses and, in the process, discovers his strengths. This exceptionally well-written story gives a nod to the era's fascination with creepy hauntings and dastardly secrets as it expertly transports readers into the atmosphere of 19th-century Florida, uniting well-drawn, nuanced characters with imaginative and tension-building plot twists. Most characters default to White. Pure storytelling at its best. (Historical fiction. 9-14) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
