by Senior Circulation Librarian Thomas Rutigliano
Get ready to make a splash because Shark Week has arrived at Lynnfield Library! Did you know that Reading is Jawsome
Our special Shark Week display is filled with books and resources for readers of all ages who are fascinated by these incredible ocean predators and my personal favorite type of shark (loan sharks). Whether you’re curious about great white sharks, hammerheads, whale sharks, or the science behind life beneath the waves, you’ll find something to enjoy.
Adult Fiction:
Hula written by Jasmin Iolani Hakes
A young daughter of the legendary Hawaiian Naupaka dynasty dreams of healing the rift in her family by competing in and winning the next Miss Aloha Hula contest and proving herself worthy of carrying on her family’s name
20,000 Leagues Under The Sea written by Jules Verne
A group of men set sail to solve the mystery of a sea monster in this amazing underwater adventure.
Jaws written by Peter Benchely
When three people are killed by a great white shark in three different incidents, the police chief of a Long Island resort town is forced to take action.
Sharks in the time of saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn
Nainoa’s family, struggling amidst the collapse of the sugarcane industry, hails his rescue as a sign of favor from ancient Hawaiian gods–a belief that appears validated after he exhibits puzzling new abilities. But as time passes, this supposed divine favor begins to drive the family apart: Nainoa, working now as a paramedic on the streets of Portland, struggles to fathom the full measure of his expanding abilities; further north in Washington, his older brother Dean hurtles into the world of elite college athletics, obsessed with wealth and fame; while in California, risk-obsessed younger sister Kaui navigates an unforgiving academic workload in an attempt to forge her independence from the family’s legacy.
When supernatural events revisit the Flores family in Hawai’i–with tragic consequences–they are all forced to reckon with the bonds of family, the meaning of heritage, and the cost of survival.
It Happens in the Hamptons by Peter Holly
When Katie Doyle moves across the country to the Hamptons, she is hoping to find summer employment, new friends for her young son, and a chance to explore a new love affair with George, a dazzling investor. What she finds is a strange cocktail of classes, where society’s one-percenters vacation alongside local, hardworking people who’ve lived in the Hamptons for generations. Though she’s looking forward to her move, Katie is wary about mingling in her boyfriend’s East Coast elite circles. She soon discovers Southampton isn’t all that it seems to be on the surface–and neither are the people who live there.
As George takes Katie on a whirlwind tour of country clubs, haute couture, and lavish events, Katie is amazed to witness sudden whims becoming dire needs, extramarital affairs blossoming right and left, and people purchasing friends and loyalties like a pair of shoes. Even the middle-class townspeople maintain determined façades while maneuvering like sharks among the wealthy summer invaders.
The more Katie becomes immersed, the more she learns the stories of both the upstairs and downstairs, the upper crust and middle of the road. The combustion between classes becomes explosive as the summer tears on. Betrayals, a sexual predator, and a missing person lost in murky waves drive the reader on a racing Learjet through impossible twists and turns before landing at the shocking conclusion. When Katie meets Luke, a marine biologist and teacher, he makes her realize what it is she really wants, as she understands the life she’s begun for herself is built on shifting Hamptons’ dunes.
Book Audiobook CD eBook eAudiobook
Adult Nonfiction
How to sweet-talk a shark : strategies and stories from a master negotiator by Bill Richardson
Sharks are not evil. But they’re single-minded and very, very hungry. On land, they take the form of bosses, businesspeople, colleagues, family, and sociopathic neighbors. In the world of former governor of New Mexico and US ambassador to the United Nations Bill Richardson, they have taken the form of the most powerful people in the world. He’s engaged in high-stakes, face-to-face negotiations with Castro, Saddam, the Taliban, two generations of North Korean leadership, and many more of the world’s most infamous dictators–and done it so well he was known as the “Undersecretary of Thugs” while with the Clinton administration. Now the 5-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee tells these stories–from Washington, DC, to the Middle East to Pyongyang–in all their intense and sometimes absurd glory.How to Sweet-Talk a Shark is a rare, candid, and entertaining glimpse into an insider’s world of high-stakes negotiation – showing Richardson’s successes and failures in some of the world’s least friendly places. Meanwhile, readers get frank lessons in the art of negotiation: how to prepare, how to size up your opponent, how to understand the nature of power in a standoff, how to give up only what is necessary while getting what you want, and many other strategies Richardson has mastered through at-the-table experience – and from working with other master negotiators like Presidents Obama and Clinton, and Nelson Mandela. These are takeaways that anyone can use to negotiate with the power brokers, dealmakers, and, yes, the hungry sharks in their own lives.
Sharks of New England by Alessandro De Maddalenna
Those who think sharks are a predominantly tropical species will be in for quite a surprise when they learn that the cold waters of New England are home to 33 different species. The aim of this book is to provide both accurate scientific information on sharks and to profile those species that inhabit the waters of New England.
Sharks don’t Sink: adventure of a rouge shark scientist by Jasmin Graham
Sharks have been on this planet for over 400 million years, so there is a lot they can teach us about survival and adaptability. For example: how do sharks, which unlike other fish are denser than water, stay afloat? They keep moving. When Jasmin Graham, an award-winning young shark scientist, started to feel that the traditional path to becoming a marine biologist was pulling her under, she remembered this important lesson: keep moving forward.
If navigating the choppy waters of traditional academic study was no longer worth it, then that meant creating an ocean of her own. Jasmin joined with three other Black women to form Minorities in Shark Sciences (MISS), an organization dedicated to providing support and opportunities for other young women of color. She became an independent researcher: a rogue shark scientist, seeking ways to keep these extraordinary endangered creatures swimming free–just like her.
Sharks Don’t Sink is a riveting, moving, and ultimately triumphant memoir at the intersection of science and social justice: a guidebook to how we can all learn to respect and protect some of nature’s most misunderstood and vulnerable creatures–and grant the same grace to ourselves.
Chasing Shadows: My life tracking the great white shark by Gregory Skomal
As shark attacks continue to rise along the coast of New England, Dr. Greg Skomal, the leading great white shark expert in the country, takes readers on a gripping exploration of these apex predators and the factors in their resurgence.
Shark: why we need to save the worlds most misunderstood predator by Paul De Gelder
From shark attack survivor to the shark’s biggest advocate, Paul de Gelder tells us just why these majestic diverse animals need our help as much as we need them. We have a perennial fascination with sharks. Portrayed in the media and popular culture as killing machines, we are awed by their power and strength. But the shark is so much more, a marvel of the sea, they have evolved over 450 million years into over 500 species, from the bioluminescent kitefin to the tiny dwarf lantern shark, the sociable lemon shark to the cow shark, which can birth up to 100 pups in one litter. Bringing balance to the ocean’s ecosystem, our planet is at serious risk when these amazing creatures are threatened. Paul de Gelder, who lost two limbs in a shark attack during a mission as an elite Australian navy clearance diver, spent time as part of his recovery learning all about sharks. He became so obsessed that, despite what happened to him, he is now an expert and has dedicated his life to helping save them. Shark is his love-letter to these unfairly vilified animals, and his warning to the world about what will happen if we don’t look out for them
Young Adult
Shark Girl by Kelly Bingham
A teenager struggles through physical loss to the start of acceptance in an absorbing, artful novel at once honest and insightful, wrenching and redemptive.
eBook via Libby, Hoopla and Kindle
The Shark Prince by Malia Maunakea
In a small Hawaiian village, half-human, half-shark teen Nohea risks attending school and entering a surf competition to help his family, while struggling to control his dangerous shark instincts and unravel the mystery of his disappearing friends.
Children’s Books
When Sharks Attack with Kindness by Andres J Colmenares
This hardcover collection features the cute, uplifting and ingenious aquatic cartoons of Andrés Colmenares, the creator of Wawawiwa Comics.. While sharks are one of the ocean’s deadliest predators, these sharks can smell insecurity, doubt, and gloom, and are quick to strike with kindness, cuteness, and positivity!
Sharks: what do great whites, hammerheads, and whale sharks get up to all day? By Carlee Jackson
Set over a 24-hour period, meet deadly tiger sharks, baby lemon sharks, and gigantic basking sharks in this kids’ nonfiction book about the coolest predators in the ocean.
Book Playaway Wonderbook Eaudiobook
Misunderstood Shark by Ame Dyckmen
Shark interrupts the filming of Underwater World With Bob, scattering the other creatures (and the audience), but he claims it is all a terrible misunderstanding–that he would never think of eating the fish, the squid, the audience…or Bob.
Fly Guy presents: Sharks by Tedd Arnold
Fly Guy is buzzing over to the aquarium today. Come along to learn all about sharks!
Shark Girl by Kate Beaton
When Shark Girl is captured by an evil fishing captain’s net, she makes a vow… for revenge! With the sea witch’s help, Shark Girl becomes a human sailor and launches a plan… for mutiny! But Shark Girl needs the help of her crew mates before she can enact her plan. Will Shark girl sink… or swim?
Stink and the Shark Sleepover by Megan Mcdonold
Shark-tastic! Stink gets to sleep with the fishes after his parents win an aquarium sleepover. But wait — what’s that lurking beyond the KEEP OUT sign?
Feature Films and Documentary
Shark Tale (Rated PG)
Oscar is a lowly tongue-scrubber at the local Whale Wash, who becomes an improbable hero when he tells a great white lie. To keep his secret, Oscar teams up with an outcast vegetarian Great White shark, Lenny, and the two become the most unlikely of friends. When his lie begins to unravel, it’s up to Oscar’s loyal friend Angie and Lenny to help him stand up to the most feared shark in the water and find his true place in the reef.
Jaws (1975) (Rated PG)
Spielberg pits three mena against a Great White Shark that has been attacking swimmers at an island resort in New England. The film redefined the word blockbuster, and John Williams’ score still haunts swimmers around the world.
Sharks of Hawaii (Documentary)
Looks at some of the forty species of sharks that live in the waters surrounding Hawaii.
Sharks in da Hood (Rated R)
A brutal monsoon floods Los Angeles, sending a swarm of bloodthirsty sharks through the streets of Compton. With the waters and body count rising, a ragtag crew of cops, criminals and locals must band together and fight to the death before the hood is eaten alive. Just remember, there ain’t no lifeguards in the hood and the sharks run these streets now!
The Meg (2018) PG-13
After escaping an attack by what he claims was a 70-foot shark, Jonas Taylor must confront his fears to save those trapped in a sunken submersible.
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
Internationally renowned oceanographer Steve Zissou and his crew – Team Zissou – set sail on an expedition to hunt down the mysterious, always elusive, possibly non-existant Jaguar Shark that supposedly killed Zissou’s partner during the documentary filming of their latest adventure. On this journey, Steve’s crew are joined by a young airline co-pilot, who may or may not be Zissou’s son, a beautiful journalist who has been assigned to write a profile of Zissou, and Eleanor, Zissou’s estranged wife and co-producer. They face overwhelming complications including pirates, kidnapping, and bankruptcy.
Hot Spring Shark Attack (2024) Rated R
In a small hot spring town in Japan, a ferocious ancient shark reawakens and begins terrorizing the local hot spring facilities. As the threat escalates, the townspeople band together to protect their beloved town from the menacing predator, leading to a fierce and thrilling battle.
Kanopy (access via your library card)