Dive into Danger

by Kelly Milner Halls, Phil Parks

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781512404630
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	01/01/2016
Series:	Animal Rescues , #2
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	92
Lexile:	620L (what's this?)
File size:	701 KB
Age Range:	9 - 14 Years

About the Author

Phil Parks has been illustrating books for the past twenty years. He lives in Michigan with his wife Cynthia and their two daughters.
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.

Editorial Reviews

"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

From the Publisher

2016-01-20
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. (Adventure. 9-14)

Kirkus Reviews