So would you live under the sea? Would you want a whale or a dolphin for a pet? How about a giant squid? Would you like to explore an undersea wreck, or frolic with Neptune? How about researching undersea cryptids?
So if sea life is your passion, you’re sure to love these stories featuring undersea adventures, mythological creatures and some straight up science fiction. Check them out!
Our Five Books feature is a booklist of five books (occasionally with a few extras) on a specific topic, with a short synopsis so you can decide if it sounds like something you would like. Five Books–one old, one new, one popular with kids, one well-reviewed, and one favorite. But you’ll have to guess which is which!
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Undertow by Steve Behling
Thirteen-year-old Arthur Curry has enough troubles to sink a ship. His mom left him and his dad when Arthur was only three years old. He doesn’t fit in with the other students at school. To them, he’s just “fish boy,” a weird, freaky kid. But Arthur has a secret. Something so secret, even he doesn’t know what it is. With the help of his only friend, Claudia, Arthur will begin to learn the truth about his mother, himself, and a legendary world that may actually exist. Oh, and he learns about octopuses. Octopi. It’s probably octopi, right? A novel based on the DC character Aquaman!
Secret Under the Caribbean by Gordon R. Dickson
Robby is excavating the ruins of an eighteenth-century Spanish sloop. Curious about the value of his excavation, Robby soon lands in the thick of a mystery. Along with his friend Mr. Lillibulero, an undersea police officer, Robby finds himself on the trail of a band of thieves who are attempting to steal the ancient vessel from the archeologists. An encounter with a ghost in Spanish attire , the assistance of Mack, Robby’s sea lion, and a clever disguise help Robby to figure out the mystery and follow the clues to a satisfying conclusion.
Young Captain Nemo by Jason Henderson
Gabriel Nemo is not your typical 12-year-old. A descendant of the famous Captain Nemo, he spent the first years of his life living in obscurity, isolated in his parents’ peaceful underwater research lab. But with his older sister off following in their ancestor’s footsteps, sinking whalers and running away from vengeful navies, Gabriel decides it’s time to forge his own path, and use his Nemotech legacy for good. Armed only with his wits, his friends, and his Nemotech submarine, Gabriel embarks on a series of daring rescues and exciting undersea battles. But when Gabriel’s sister suddenly appears with proof of previously undiscovered sea creatures–giant beasts inhabiting wrecked war planes and ships–Gabriel and his new friends must face their biggest and most dangerous mission ever! The first book in an exciting trilogy!
The Neptune Project by Polly Holyoke
Nere has never understood why she feels so much more comfortable and confident in water than on land, but everything falls into place when Nere learns that she is one of a group of kids who –unbeknownst to them — have been genetically altered to survive in the ocean. These products of “The Neptune Project” will be able to build a better future under the sea, safe from the barren country’s famine, wars, and harsh laws. But there are some very big problems: no one asked Nere if she wanted to be a science experiment; the other Neptune kids aren’t exactly the friendliest bunch, and in order to reach the safe haven of the Neptune colony, Nere and her fellow mutates must swim through hundreds of miles of dangerous waters, relying only on their wits, dolphins, and each other to evade terrifying undersea creatures and a government that will stop at nothing to capture the Neptune kids . . . dead or alive.
The Tail of Emily Windsnap by Liz Kessler
For as long as she can remember, twelve-year-old Emily Windsnap has lived on a boat. And, oddly enough, for just as long, her mother has seemed anxious to keep Emily away from the water. But when Mom finally agrees to let her take swimming lessons, Emily makes a startling discovery — about her own identity, the mysterious father she’s never met, and the thrilling possibilities and perils shimmering deep below the water’s surface. Suddemly, Emily is lured into a glorious undersea world where mermaids study shipwrecks at school and Neptune rules with an iron trident. A long-running series with a new title coming out this spring!
Monster Missions by Laura Martin
Berkeley and her best friend, Garth, live on an old cruise ship, scavenging for supplies from the drowned cities left behind on the ocean floor after the sea swallowed up all the land. They think they’ve seen every kind of aquatic creature, but they never expected to find sea monsters! After awakening a Hydra, Berkeley and Garth are sent to live on a submarine, where they study and hunt undersea monsters. But the Hydra wants revenge on their home ship–and if it succeeds, their families will go down with it. Berkley, Garth, and their crew must find a way to save the ship. But monsters aren’t the only deadly things lurking in the ocean’s depths…
Atlantis: The Accidental Invasion by Gregory Mone
Kaya, raised in the undersea, high-tech world of Atlantis, has always been fascinated by the legends about life above the water. Despite the government’s insistence that they’re only stories, she can’t help but dream about the Sun People-and when a group of officials known as Erasers move to bury those legends for good, Kaya sets out to the surface to uncover the truth once and for all. At the same time, in the world above, where climate change has led to giant tsunamis that threaten Earth’s coasts, all Lewis wants is to spend more time with his scientist father. When he stows away on his dad’s top-secret research trip, he finds himself thrown headfirst into an adventure much bigger than he bargained for. Suddenly, both kids are thrust into an adventure unlike anything they’ve ever seen before!
Jack and the Geniuses: In the Deep Blue Sea by Bill Nye, the Science Guy and Gregory Mone
Jack and his genius siblings, Ava and Matt, embark on an adventure with Dr. Hank Witherspoon to the remote Hawaiian island home of Ashley Hawking, a technology billionaire. Hawking and engineer Rosa Morris have built a revolutionary electricity plant that harvests energy from the ocean’s depths, but someone has sabotaged the project. In his search for the culprit, Jack ventures 2,000 feet below the surface of the ocean in a homemade submarine. He, Ava, and Matt attend the world’s strangest birthday party, face off against an arrogant young genius, and then find themselves lost at sea. The three siblings have to use all their brainpower and cunning to find out who’s behind the sabotage . . . and survive.
Daughter of the Deep by Rick Riordan
Ana Dakkar is a freshman at Harding-Pencroft Academy, a five-year high school that graduates the best marine scientists, naval warriors, navigators, and underwater explorers in the world. Ana’s parents died while on a scientific expedition two years ago, and the only family’s she’s got left is her older brother, Dev, also a student at HP. Ana’s freshman year culminates with the class’s weekend trial at sea, the details of which have been kept secret. She only hopes she has what it’ll take to succeed. All her worries are blown out of the water when, on the bus ride to the ship, Ana and her schoolmates witness a terrible tragedy that will change the trajectory of their lives. But wait, there’s more. The professor accompanying them informs Ana that their rival school, Land Institute, and Harding-Pencroft have been fighting a cold war for a hundred and fifty years. Now that cold war has been turned up to a full broil, and the freshman are in danger of becoming fish food. In a race against deadly enemies, Ana will make amazing friends and astounding discoveries about her heritage as she puts her leadership skills to the test for the first time. Like Percy Jackson, this is sure to become a favorite series!
Malamander by Thomas Taylor
It’s winter in the town of Eerie-on-Sea, where the mist is thick and the salt spray is rattling the windows of the Grand Nautilus Hotel. Inside, young Herbert Lemon, Lost-and-Founder for the hotel, has an unexpected visitor: Violet Parma, a fearless girl around his age who lost her parents at the hotel when she was a baby. She’s sure that the nervous Herbert is the only person who can help her find her parents. The trouble is, Violet is being pursued by a strange hook-handed man. And the town legend of the Malamander–a part-fish, part-human monster whose egg is said to make dreams come true–is rearing its scaly head. As various townspeople, some good-hearted, some nefarious, reveal themselves to be monster hunters on the sly, can Herbert and Violet elude them and discover what happened to Violet’s kin? The first book in The Legends of Eerie-on-Sea series.
Explorer Academy: The Nebula Secret by Trudi Trueit
Cruz leaves his tranquil home in Hawaii to join 20 talented kids from around the globe to train at the Explorer Academy with the world’s leading scientists to become the next generation of great explorers. But for Cruz, there’s more at stake. As soon as he arrives he discovers his family’s mysterious past with the Academy threatens his future. His mother had also attended the Academy and gone on to achieve groundbreaking success in a secret research division, before a tragic lab accident took her life. A near-fatal incident and a cryptic warning confirms his worst fear: His mother’s death was no accident. Now, someone doesn’t want him in the Academy either. In fact, someone doesn’t even want him alive! With the help of his classmates, Cruz puts together pieces of a complicated puzzle. Suddenly, he finds himself at the center of an international quest for a missing formula that only he can decode. By the time he boards the Academy’s flagship Polaris for his semester at sea, the fate of his friends, and maybe even the world, are in his hands. The first in an adventurous series!
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When I was a kid, I loved a cartoon called Sealab 2020. The characters lived in a big research station under the ocean, and they regularly explored the seas with their teachers and friends. I was convinced that by the time I was grown up, I would be able to live under the ocean too, and have adventures with dolphins and sharks, and have to look out for attacks by giant kracken and other sea monsters.
Of course, we’re no closer all these years later to having a settlement under the sea. But it is fun to think about the possibilities. After all, there’s probably still more unknown about what happens in the oceans than what happens on Earth. But that’s why it’s fun to speculate about what might be lurking…down in the deep.
As always, if you need help finding these or any other books, just ask one of our librarians for help. We love matching books and readers!
Happy Reading!
::Kelly::
It’s almost the end of summer vacation, and Ted Gerson had planned to spend the time playing online games, sometimes with his friend Caleb, sometimes on his own. So when his mother insists that twelve-year-old Ted go to the hospital and visit his barely remembered Great-Uncle Ted, the younger Ted balks. But moms have a way of getting their way, so off Ted goes.
The audio for Click Here to Start is very enjoyable. Greg Watanabe does an excellent job of making each character’s voice unique. He sounds like a twelve year old who is engrossed in solving a mystery. I enjoyed the pacing; the action parts kept me on the edge of my seat.
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