Shark Lady

June 5, 2017
Keating (Pink Is for Blobfish) offers a lively portrait of
scientist Eugenie Clark, who pursued a passion for sharks. Playfully mixing the aquatic and terrestrial, Miguens (One Small Donkey) shows sharks circling the stacks of the library where a young Clark reads: “Whale sharks. Nurse sharks. Tiger sharks. Lemon sharks. Eugenie wanted to know about them all.” Despite facing discrimination as a woman, Clark earned a zoology degree then literally dove into field research, changing the way sharks were perceived. Through Clark’s story, Keating suggests that, with perseverance, a childhood fascination can evolve into a life’s work. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Kathleen Rushall, Andrea Brown Literary. Illustrator’s agency: Astound.

April 15, 2017
A tribute to the courage and indomitable will of the renowned ichthyologist.This eloquent profile follows Clark from a childhood visit to an aquarium through her demonstration that sharks can actually be trained and so are not "mindless killers" as widely supposed. Throughout, Keating highlights the stubborn tenacity with which she shrugged off the pressure to "Be a secretary! Be a housewife!" and followed a dream "as big as a whale shark." Over the course of her career, she discovered several new species of fish (the Red Sea sand diver, the barred xenia pipefish, and the volcano triplefin) and proved that sharks "deserved to be studied, ...protected, ...and loved." Keating focuses so closely on presenting her subject as a woman successfully overcoming gender obstacles that there are no references to Clark's family, her death in 2015, or the fact that her mother was "of Japanese descent" and her father "American" (presumably white) until the timeline at the end--and the prejudice she encountered as a result of her mixed-race heritage goes unmentioned. In Miguens' neatly drawn illustrations, Clark and her mother display slightly East Asian facial features, and figures in crowd and classroom scenes are often people of color. The author appends a section of shark facts, along with a note detailing some of Clark's other discoveries and accomplishments. Inspiring, if agenda driven, and serviceable as a companion or alternative to Heather Lang's Swimming with Sharks, illustrated by Jordi Solano (2016). (bibliography) (Picture book/biography. 4-8)

COPYRIGHT(2017) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

June 1, 2017

Gr 1-4-Eugenie Clark (1922-2015) dedicated her life to studying zoology. A professor and a writer who was fascinated with sharks, she emphasized that these animals were not mindless killers. As a result of her tireless work, much of the world realized that sharks needed to be better appreciated and protected. The book is filled with bright blues and greens. The illustrations, done in Adobe Photoshop, portray Clark first as an inquisitive child and later as a tenacious scientist and a deep-sea diver. The aquatic creatures, drawn with big doe eyes, are depicted as friendly, happy creatures. Back matter includes additional information in a section titled "Shark Bites." VERDICT A fine way to introduce young children to science.-Patricia Ann Owens, formerly at Illinois Eastern Community College, Mount Carmel

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2017
Preschool-G This colorful picture-book biography introduces marine biologist Eugenie Clark, first as a child watching sharks swim at a large aquarium and pretending to be one. On a visit to the seashore, she swims underwater, looking for her favorite fish. As she grows up, she reads books about sharks, takes challenging science courses, and eventually earns a doctorate in zoology. Clark joins research missions in the field, carries out experiments, and writes books to clarify misconceptions about sharks. Keating points out obstacles Clark faced as a woman determined to become a scientist, but only in the appended back matter does the time frame of her life become clear. The writing flows well, keeping a clear focus on Clark and her dream, while including pertinent details from the career of the Shark Lady, known for her groundbreaking research and her work to change people's perceptions of sharks. The stylized digital illustrations are richly colored and appealing, though occasionally they seem more fanciful than realistic. A lively introduction to an American scientist.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)