Neighborhood Sharks - by Katherine Roy (Hardcover)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

A Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
Winner of the John Burroughs Riverby Award for Young Readers

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.

This title has Common Core connections.

Review Quotes

"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

About the Author

Katherine Roy is the award-winning author and illustrator of many science-based books for kids, including her Robert F. Sibert Honor Book Neighborhood Sharks: Hunting with the Great Whites of California's Farallon Islands, How to Be an Elephant: Growing Up in the African Wild, and Making More: How Life Begins. She is also the illustrator of numerous other books, including Barb Rosenstock's Otis and Will Discover the Deep, Richard Ho's Red Rover, and Kirsten W Larson's The Fire of Stars. She lives with her husband and sons in western Oregon.
katherineroy.com