Shark Wars #2
The Battle of Riptide
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3.9 • 8 Ratings
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
Ever since Gray, Barkley, and their friends defeated Goblin, an infamous great white, at Tuna Run, life in the Big Blue has become murkier than ever for this young shiver of sharks. Food is scarce. Enemies lurk in every shadow. And Gray still doesn't know what has become of his family - of his mother, Sandy, and the rest of his Coral Reef shiver. Everywhere they swim, currents seem to whisper of a growing threat . . . of a shark who will stop at nothing until he has seized control of the entire ocean.
Now Gray must train with Takiza Jaelynn Betta vam Delacrest Waveland ka Boom Boom, a wise and mysterious fighting fish who has promised to teach his young apprentice the ways of the ocean and the secret of what it means to be a great warrior. That is, if Gray can learn to believe in himself, find the courage to trust his heart, and grow big enough to fight back!
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
What should be a can't-miss concept (shark tribes warring for territorial rights and positions of power) somehow does, mostly due to tired dialogue and a forced aquatic vocabulary. Screenwriter and first-time novelist Altbacker quickly establishes and makes extensive use of underwater lore and lingo Big Blue is the open ocean, green-greenie are kelp beds, chop-chop denotes the ocean's surface that readers will find either fun or babyish, but that mostly feels intrusive (particularly in the inclusion of cardinal directions in random words: "lEast" for lost, "Southdenly" for suddenly). After Gray, a feisty shark pup, is banished from his peaceful, reef-dwelling clan, or "shiver," he and his friend Barkley venture into Big Blue and form Rogue Shiver with a quartet of sharks they meet. As Rogue Shiver becomes embroiled in a clash between two larger shivers, a web of scheming, shifting allegiances, and questionable identities emerges; a final showdown upends the balance of power and hints at Gray's future ascendancy. Readers looking for action and playground-style undersea banter ("You all suck algae!") will find both in abundance, and for some that will be enough. Ages 9 12.
