Boy Who Cried Shark
Page 4
Ralph dives to the left, covering his head with his fins.
I’ve got just one chance for my plan to work. I head straight for the goal, kicking as hard and as fast as I can. The great white’s hot gill-breath is sending shivers up my spine.
The goal posts come up really fast. I hold out my fins and curl my whole body into a sharky body-knot. I grab the top of the post with my fin and hope that my speed will be enough to carry me around. It is. I spin around the post, up over the crossbar, and as I come around I flick out both flukes of my tail as hard as I can.
CRACK!!!
The great white’s nose connects perfectly with my tail-flick. The nose is where great whites keep all their most sensitive hunting sensors and delicate S.H.A.R.K.D.A.R. equipment. It’s also the most vulnerable place on a great white’s body. If you’re ever facing a great white, hit him as hard as you can on the nose.
BOIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNGG!
The great white’s eyes snap shut and his body goes limp. He’s traveling so fast that his whole body flies forward, knocking me aside as he shoots right into the goal.
ONE-ZERO HARRY!
The great white is completely unconscious as he floats in the water, but he won’t be for long. I swim up, unhook the net from the crossbar, and drape the net over him. Then, grabbing the net in my teeth, I swim around and around until he is totally tied up.
Done!
“Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!” cry the dolphin twins.
“Yessssssssssssssssssssssssss!” cry Ralph and Joe.
“Has it gone yet?” whimpers Rick, still hiding behind Pearl and Cora.
And then it seems like the whole town is crowding on to the finball field, coming to see what’s happened. At the head of the crowd are Mom and Dad.
Mom throws herself at me and gives me a massive hug. “Starfish! You’ve saved us all!”
For the first time ever, I’m not embarrassed by Mom calling me starfish. But that’s probably because everyone is pointing at the great white trapped in the net and cheering like crazy.
Cheering ME!
Dad high-fins me, then raises my fin like I’m a champion wrestler. “I’m so proud of you, son,” he says with a smile.
Ralph, Joe, Cora, Pearl, and even Donny the Dogfish are pushing their way through the crowd toward me. Ralph and Joe can’t stop smiling. Cora and Pearl are snapping away with the cameras on their SeaPhones. Donny is clapping and cheering! In the background I can see Rick getting off the seabed and dusting himself off with his fins. He doesn’t look happy at the attention I’m getting.
But I don’t care. It’s AWESOME.
“Harry’s hammer-vision saved us all!” Dad shouts, and from the clapping and cheering it seems like the whole town agrees.
I can’t believe it. Just this morning I was so down in the dumps that I wanted the seabed to swallow me whole. Now I’m on top of the ocean!
As everyone gathers around me, high-finning me and slapping me on the back, I realize something so shocking, it makes my goggly eyes spin. Ever since I can remember, I’ve wanted to be a great white, but I’m a hammerhead who outwitted a great white. It’s not just G-White who has the shark factor.
I’ve got BUCKETS FULL of it!
Meet Harry and the Shark Point gang . . . .
HARRY
Species: hammerhead shark
You’ll spot him . . . using his special hammer-vision
Favorite thing: his Gregor the Gnasher poster
Most likely to say: “I wish I was a great white.”
Most embarrassing moment: when Mom called him her “little starfish” in front of all his friends
RALPH
Species: pilot fish
You’ll spot him . . . eating the food from between Harry’s teeth!
Favorite thing: shrimp Pop-Tarts
Most likely to say: “So, Harry, what’s for breakfast today?”
Most embarrassing moment: eating too much cake on Joe’s birthday. His face was COVERED in pink plankton icing.
JOE
Species: jellyfish
You’ll spot him . . . hiding behind Ralph and Harry, or behind his own tentacles
Favorite thing: his cave, since it’s nice and safe
Most likely to say: “If we do this, we’re going to end up as fish food . . . .”
Most embarrassing moment: whenever his rear goes toot, which is when he’s scared. Which is all the time.
RICK
Species: blacktip reef shark
You’ll spot him . . . bullying smaller fish or showing off
Favorite thing: his black leather jacket
Most likely to say: “Last one there’s a sea snail!”
Most embarrassing moment: none. Rick’s far too cool to get embarrassed.
Shark Bites
The basking shark is the second-largest fish in existence. Only the whale shark is bigger. Their mouths can be more than three feet in width!
An electric eel does not have teeth. It can grow up to nine feet in length.
Starfish are also known as sea stars. Although most starfish have five arms, some can have as many as twelve!
Piranha are freshwater fish mostly found in the waters of South America. They are carnivorous, which means they eat meat.
Most great white sharks are between thirteen and sixteen feet long and weigh from 1,500 to 2,450 pounds.
The teeth of great white sharks are razor sharp.
Sea cows are also known as manatees. They can stay underwater for about fifteen minutes, but must breathe air from the surface in order to survive.
Sharks have been swimming in the world’s oceans for over 400 million years.
There are more than four hundred different species of sharks, ranging from the giant hammerhead to the goblin shark.
Sharks do not have bones. They are cartilaginous fish, which means their skeletons are made of cartilage, not bone. Cartilage is a type of connective tissue that is softer than bone. Humans have cartilage in their ears and nose.
The shortfin mako is the fastest shark in the ocean. It can swim in bursts as fast as forty-six miles per hour.
The whale shark is the largest shark in the sea and can grow to be as long as sixty feet.
DAVY OCEAN has traveled the seven seas in search of good seafaring shanties and fishy tales. He currently resides in a small fishing town that overlooks Shark Point and allows him uninterrupted access to the antics of a small community of hammerhead sharks and its fellow ocean neighbors.
AARON BLECHA is an artist who designs funny characters, animates silly cartoons, and illustrates humorous books. His work incudes illustrations for the bestselling book series George Brown, Class Clown. Originally from the United States, Aaron now lives with his family by the south English seaside.
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READ ALL THE SHARK SCHOOL BOOKS!
#1: Deep-Sea Disaster
#2: Lights! Camera! Hammerhead!
#3: Squid-napped!
COMING SOON
#5: A Fin-tastic Finish
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com
First Aladdin paperback edition February 2015
Text and concept copyright © 2013 by Hothouse Fiction
Illustrations copyright © 2013 by Aaron Blecha
Originally published as Harry Hammer: Shark Aler
t in 2013 in Great Britain by Templar Publishing.
Also available in an Aladdin hardcover edition.
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
ALADDIN is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc., and related logo is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
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Jacket designed by Karin Paprocki
Jacket illustrations copyright © 2015 by Aaron Blecha
Interior designed by Mike Rosamilia
The text of this book was set in Write Demibd.
Library of Congress Control Number 2014947362
ISBN 978-1-4814-0689-5 (hc)
ISBN 978-1-4814-0688-8 (pbk)
ISBN 978-1-4814-0690-1 (eBook)