Review by Booklist Review
Beaton's playful, sharp twist on mermaid tales delightfully skewers ideas of power and responsibility with her signature wry humor and crisp cartoon style. Shark Girl (half girl, half shark, naturally) is content to live in the sea, until she ends up as bycatch in an aggressive fishing vessel's bottom trawl. Now she's committed to revenge. Enlisting the help of a sea witch, she transforms into a human (though still blue and with an impressive mouthful of sharp teeth) and tries to encourage the ship's crew to mutiny against the truly awful Captain Barrett. Beaton's bold, brightly colored artwork is packed with comical background details, and her characters' expressive faces neatly communicate outsized emotions that amp up the comedy. Though inciting mutiny isn't as easy as she thought, Shark Girl proves to be a capable shipmate as Little Sailor, and the rest of the crew's deep loyalty to her--not to mention the Captain's greedy, exploitative leadership--is just the push they need to band together and demand better. (Shark Girl's innate drive to chomp also helps.) Themes of conservation and workers' rights sit comfortably alongside a story about being accepting and finding strength in community in this gleefully biting fable.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Human from the shoulders up, blue-haired, blue-skinned Shark Girl sports a shark's powerful, finned body as well as her own sense of agency, autonomy, and justice. She vows revenge after escaping from the net of a greedy sea captain who doesn't care about fishing's bycatch effects. With the help of a sea witch ("They live for drama"), Shark Girl takes the form of a human sailor and joins the ship's crew, planning to foment mutiny. Her fellow sailors find her odd at first--she sleeps with her eyes open and has a voracious appetite, with table manners to match--but her fish-sensing skills soon make her a valued member of the team. When the captain holds her captive for her prowess, a crew rescue results in a shark-style coup de grâce to her nemesis. Shark Girl hadn't thought too highly of humans, but she leaves the crew knowing they'll do the right thing: "They still fish, but they never overfish, and they only catch what humans will eat." Though the story's pacing occasionally flounders, exuberant cartooning from Beaton (King Baby) keeps this cheeky "Little Mermaid" variation swimming to a fish-friendly finale. Characters are portrayed with various skin tones, some fanciful. Ages 3--6. Agent: Seth Fishman, Gernert Company. (Feb.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Stand aside, little mermaids. The true, pointy-toothed protector of the seas is here! Though she's part shark and part human, Shark Girl has never had much to do with her human side--until the day a massive fishing net captures her, along with a load of other sea denizens. She escapes and, realizing that the dangerous Captain Barrett is overfishing, seeks vengeance. With the help of a sea witch ("you'll need a sea witch if you want to get legs"), she disguises herself and joins Barrett's crew in the hope of inciting mutiny. Rebellions, however, are difficult things to start. Instead, Shark Girl discovers that humans are complicated creatures and that sometimes revenge isn't as straightforward as a creature born of the sea would prefer. Beaton peppers her conservationist tale with peppy, scaly aplomb. Shark Girl's the right hero for the job, even if her methods don't always go how she'd like. Mixing vignettes, comic book--like panels, and full-page spreads, the artwork ramps up the drama; fierce-looking, sharp-toothed Shark Girl makes a winsome protagonist. Given that sharks and mermaids are both hot topics among young readers, this title feels like a natural marriage between the two. The environmental messaging is subtle in the face of the power of a protagonist who's part shark, part girl, and all awesome. Shark Girl is blue-skinned, Captain Barrett presents white, and the crew is diverse. A scaly new hero sure to save the day--and to endear herself to readers.(Picture book. 3-6) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
