Monster Down Deep by Amy Fellner Dominy
Thank you Pushkin Press for the digital ARC!
The first chapter is from “Monster Down Deep”. Well, that is what others call him. But he really is just “Very Afraid Fish”. I thought that was a fun way to start a book. There are chapters from the fish’s point of view throughout the book. I liked this.
11-year-old Cassie loves to go treasure hunting with her metal detector, which she calls Sylvia. Recently, a yacht sank, and the owners are offering a $1 million reward for the return of a diamond necklace. Cassie wants that reward. As she is out on the beach, she notices a new treasure hunter, TJ, who is also after the necklace.
Cassie is exploring the water when she spots the Monster Fish. But she likes fish, and she doesn’t see this fish as a monster; she calls him Blue. While she is looking at Blue, she bumps into TJ again. Together, she and TJ want to find out what exactly Blue is. Cassie has a good amount of knowledge about fish. Her dad is the aquarist at the local aquarium.
Turns out, Blue is something no one has ever seen before. He’s a special fish. Cassie gets her dad to take him to the aquarium so he can be studied. Cassie is thrilled to have saved Blue and to have gotten all the attention she and the aquarium have received. But is an aquarium the best place for Blue? Would he be better off free?
I was thinking a lot of the same things as I was reading this book. I love that Cassie saved Blue and that it seemed like the aquarium was a perfect spot for him. He would be looked after, fed, and protected. And we could learn a lot from him. But that doesn’t take away the fact that he is not free. I was so sad when Blue talked about not being able to see the moon, and that is how he keeps track of his age. I was also getting a little annoyed with Cassie, as I felt she was blinded by the attention she and Blue were getting and had forgotten why she had saved him in the first place. I didn’t think I would become attached to a fish!
There is a happy ending that makes sense for the most part. I think in the real world, things might have had different outcomes, but it’s a fictional book for kids! You have to let some things go.
Four out of Five Magical Coffee Cups
Literary Coffee 