by Davy Ocean
Buzz shakes his head.
“No! No! These boy sharks are the real heroes! Why don’t you interview them first? They had a much wilder adventure than me-they got caught up in a tornado!”
The crowd gasps as the lobsters point their microphones at Rick.
I can see Rick doesn’t know what to do. His face is turning red, and if I’m not mistaken, he looks like he’s about to burst into tears.
I reach out a fin and shake with Rick, then with the other fin, I pull the microphone to my mouth.
“Let me tell you,” I begin. Rick looks up at me, his eyes red and his bottom lip quivering. “Let me tell you about Rick Reef-the bravest shark I know and the one who saved me from the tornado, the leggy airbreathers, and the massive Moo-Monster!”
Later, at a party arranged by NASA, Joe and Tony are seeing who can eat the widest sea cucumber sideways, and Ralph, my pilot fish pal, is enjoying darting in and out of my mouth, picking out the bits and pieces of party food stuck in my teeth.
As Ralph comes out of my mouth for about the hundredth time, with the most satisfied grin on his face I have ever seen, I feel a tugging on my fin.
It’s Rick.
“I can’t believe what you said.”
“I can,” I said. “We were both just as scared. And you were just as brave as me.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t call out for your mommy.”
“I did,” I said. “I just did it inside my head. Look, Rick, I know we don’t get along and stuff, but you drove that buggy away from the cops, and you kept driving no matter what. Neither of us would be here today if it wasn’t for you. I’m not going to tell tales about you.”
Rick looks on the verge of tears again. He holds out his fin.
I take hold of it, and we shake fins like buddies.
I don’t guess we’ll ever be best buddies. And I’m sure he’ll still FLUBBER me whenever he gets a chance, but I do feel things between us will be a lot better from now on.
And that feeling makes all the danger worthwhile.
“Five!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Dad yells as the anglerfish candles light up on top of the celebration cake NASA has provided.
“Four!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Dad shouts as me, Buzz, and Rick swim forward.
“Three!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Dad booms as the three of us gill in a huge breath!
“Two!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Dad raises a NASA flag in his fin.
“One!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Dad brings the flag down with a mighty SWOOSH!!!!!
“SPLASHUP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Rick and I blow at the candles with our huge breaths, and one by one, the flames go out . . . like stars as the sun rises.
THE END
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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 and illustrates humorous books. His work includes the Shark School series and Goodnight, Grizzle Grump! Originally from Wisconsin, Aaron now lives with his family by the south English seaside.
Aladdin
Simon & Schuster, New York
Visit us at simonandschuster.com/kids
Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Davy-Ocean
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READ ALL THE SHARK SCHOOL BOOKS!
#1: Deep-Sea Disaster
#2: Lights! Camera! Hammerhead!
#3: Squid-napped!
#4: The Boy Who Cried Shark
#5: A Fin-tastic Finish
#6: Splash Dance
#7: Tooth or Dare
#8: Fishin’: Impossible
#9: Long Fin Silver
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
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First Aladdin paperback edition March 2019
Text copyright © 2019 by Hothouse Fiction
Illustrations copyright © 2019 by Aaron Blecha
Also available in an Aladdin hardcover edition.
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Series designed by Karin Paprocki
Cover designed by Nina Simoneaux
Interior designed by Mike Rosamilia
Library of Congress Control Number 2018953531
ISBN 978-1-4814-6556-4 (hc)
ISBN 978-1-4814-6555-7 (pbk)
ISBN 978-1-4814-6557-1 (eBook)