Middle school is a tough time for any kid to move. When Savannah, also known as Sav, and her family move from the central part of Florida to a beach town she is not overly thrilled. You can love marine life, but not like the water so very much. Sav has a hearing problem and has had cochlear implants. She fears the water and I was able to relate that to my grandmother. We came to Florida on vacation. We could only get her in water almost to her knees. She had a fear of falling in, the darkness of the water, ruining her hearing aid. She was always afraid of water. She was fine watching it from a distance. This kind of remined me of Sav. Another thing that is difficult for most kids moving during middle school is having to leave old friends and meet new ones. Sav is lucky that she meets Tanner. This is also where her problems begin. She’s invited to their new restaurant and learns the soup she is eating is Shark Fin soup. She conducts research and learns how horrible it is for the sharks to have their fins removed then thrown back into the ocean to die.
She along with two other new friends decide to do something. Unfortunately Sav has chosen several methods that are illegal to get her message across. The upside to this book is that it shows teens that no matter what their age they can make a difference. It teaches them that they do have a voice and should use it to make a difference in the world. I think many of my middle school students could relate to this book. I have found that they are different from my generation when we were teens. We were not really made to feel we had a voice until we were much older. Kids today can and do make a difference simply by using their voice. Awesome book with an awesome message.
