Julia and the Shark

Product Information

Julia and the Shark is deep, beautiful and true. The art shines and the writing soars. A classic from cover to cover. - Eoin Colfer A captivating, powerful and luminous story from a bestselling, award-winning author about a mother, a daughter and the great Greenland shark.

Julia has followed her mum and dad to live on a remote island for the summer - her dad, for work; her mother, on a determined mission to find the elusive Greenland shark. But when her mother's obsession threatens to submerge them all, Julia finds herself on an adventure with dark depths and a lighthouse full of hope... A truly beautiful book, with text and illustrations in perfect harmony. A book to treasure! - Jacqueline Wilson

I appreciate the multicultural representation and I love the young characters so much. They seem so real! Their voices represent their actual ages quite accurately and I applaud the author for developing these characters so convincingly. As Julia settles into their summer, her mother’s search for the shark becomes more and more frantic - she’s running out of time before they have to go home, but her obsession with the creature is beginning to pull her family apart. When Julia decides to save her family, she embarks on a journey through darkness and hope to find her mother again.

What starts out as an adventure and a few quirky weeks of living in a lighthouse soon turns dark. Why? Well, I don't want to spoil too much but her mother's obsession with the shark and mental health issues take center stage here. Though science and the importance of nature for us humans are also explored in a very nice (non-preachy) way. The writing is purely lyrical and so beautiful. It got me dreaming at times about the beautiful nature during the read. I am so grateful for this! It’s been years I haven’t have been this invested, getting lost in my own head reading a good book.Es war düsterer, die Themen heftiger als ich erwartet hatte, aber es war auch so ein wichtiges Thema. This little gem is a book about mental issues, mental health, friendship, bullying, adventure, love and caring for the environment. And of course about cats: Noodle is a cat who has her rightful place in the family and the story. Tekst en illustraties zijn één verhaal en ondersteunen elkaar precies goed. De illustraties zijn soms heel duidelijk, soms lijkt het een vlek maar is er meer te zien als je beter kijkt.