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Book Cover |
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Excerpt |
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"Swim," I
said.
Michi nodded.
"Oyogimashou!"
We didn't get
far. Less than halfway to shore, something wrapped abound my
ankle. It was cold and leathery. Seaweed, I thought.
I stopped swimming and tried to kick it away, but the
seaweed clung to me. Worse, another cold tendril curled
around my other leg. Now I had seaweed around both legs.
This was getting serious. I tried to pull my feet up, but
the seaweed came with them. Because I wasn't paying
attention to the sea, a wave took me by surprise. It washed
over my head, and for two seconds I was in a blurry,
underwater world filled with wriggling green seaweed. I
bobbed back to the surface.
Wriggling?
I thought.
"Hebi da,"
Michi whispered.
I was
nose-to-nose with him. He had stopped swimming too. He
wasn't looking at me. His eyes were swiveled down, watching
a green rope of seaweed that was draped diagonally across
his shoulder. It seemed to be moving, threading itself
slowly through the narrow gap between the water wing and his
neck. As the seaweed moved, Michi slowly tipped his head to
one side, away from it. I heard him take a long, shuddering
breath, like someone trying to control their emotions. Then
I felt a cold, feather-light touch on the back of my own
neck, just above the water line. It sent a chill through my
whole body. This wasn't seaweed, I realized, not daring to
move as a small, evil-looking head poked out of the water
right beneath my nose. It flickered its Y-shaped tongue at
me.
Sea snakes. They
were all around us. All over us. One came sliding up onto my
shoulder, had a close look at my mouth (clamped tightly
shut), then made a sagging bridge across the gap between
Michi and me. It passed another one coming the other way.
Now there was a snake looped around my neck. And one
slithered across my head! I could feel them underwater,
nosing at my limbs, tangling in my clothes, tickling past my
feet. For thirty feet in every direction, the sea writhed
and churned like a saucepan full of boiling spaghetti, with
Michi and me in the middle of it.
"Stay absolutely
still," I whispered to Michi.
He couldn't
understand what I was saying. In fact, I don't think he even
heard me. He seemed to be in shock. His face turned a sickly
bluish-gray, and just the whites of his eyes showed between
half-closed eyelids. Every so often, a big tear would roll
down one of his cheeks.
"Michi, it's
going to be okay."
He gave his head
a tiny shake. "Hebi," he whimpered, between
clattering teeth.
There was
nothing I could do to calm him. It was hard enough staying
calm myself.
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Synopsis |
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Sam Fox, whose
foot is still in a cast from when he broke it rescuing
Chainsaw the bull in Bush Fire
Rescue, is on vacation at the Great Barrier Reef with
his parents. He and Michi, an 8 year old Japanese boy that
doesn't speak any English, are wandering through the tide
pools looking for sea creatures when a giant wave washes
then off the reef out into the sea.
Sam is able
to find Michi and hang onto him to help him float, as Michi
is wearing yellow water wings on his arms. Sam's plaster
cast, which he was bound to get removed shortly, is getting
heavier and heavier as water soaks into it. Michi calls out,
"Bruce!" and Sam realizes that Michi is talking about the
shark that is approaching them, and "Bruce" is a reference
to the shark in Finding Nemo. First the shark butts
up against Sam and then he returns and chomped down on him .
. . well, the cast on the foot, that is.
Later, the
two boys spend the night floating in the warm water singing
songs, as Michi seems to know a lot of songs in English and
is a good singer. During the night, a boat almost runs them
over and does not stop, even though a person on deck
appeared see and hear them screaming for help. A giant shark
approaches them and Sam realizes that it is a whale shark,
and not a danger to them. Sam and Michi grab hold of the
shark's fin and get a long ride being towed through the
water until they are too exhausted to hang on any longer.
Sam and Michi
end up a few hundred yard from Utopia Island and are about
to start swimming for the shore when they find themselves
surrounded by hundreds of sea snakes. They finally make it
to the island only to have Michi get his foot caught in the
coral reef. The tide is coming in and Sam realizes that he
must somehow get Michi's shoe unstuck before the young
Japanese boy drowns. As Sam quickly combs the island for
something that will help save his new friend, he stumbles
upon a couple of animal poachers. Before Sam knows it he is
caught and thrown in to a cage with a six-foot tall
cassowary.
Shark
Bait is the
third book in
Extreme Adventures series written by Justin D'Ath. It is a
stand-alone book and, according to the author, you do not
have read them in order. The series is intended for readers
9 years
and older.
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Review |
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Shark Bait is another
very exciting book in the Extreme Adventures series starring
Sam Fox, an Austrian boy. Sam never looks for trouble . . .
trouble just seems to find him. This time, Sam must survive
the night floating in the warm ocean waters with a young
Japanese boy that doesn't speak or understand English. They
survive sharks, sea snakes, nearly drowning, and then end up
battling animal poachers. There is no way that I would want
to spend the night suspended in the water with predators
swimming all around me. That would scare the bejeezus out of
me. Both of these boys are brave, very brave indeed.
Once again,
Justin D'Ath has put
pen to paper and created another fun-filled, action-packed,
wet adventure for us to read. As with all the books in the
series, the quick paced of the story keeps the reader highly
involved, biting their nails and they witness Sam escape
from each harrowing situation. This is the kind of books
that boys absolutely love, and possibly girls too. This is
action to the maximum!
I realize
that these books are meant for Young Readers ages 9 and
older, but I really love reading them also. They are a very
quick read for me, but I find that the books always satisfy
my need for action and suspense, just like the series
Conspiracy 365. I
have become an action junkie because of these two wonderful
series and I find myself wanting more and more. All I can
say is, "Bring it on, Kane Miller!" I'll be ready for more
of these types of books anytime.
Overall,
Shark Bait is
a great story that will keep Young Readers glued to the
pages. The action is plenty and I found myself floating in
the open water with the boys sharing the danger with them. I
look forward to seeing what kind of sticky situations Sam
Fox finds himself in during his next adventure in
Scorpion Sting. That sure sounds dangerous.
I rated this book an 8½ out of 10. |
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