Seagulls Don't Eat Pickles

March 4, 2013
This light adventure launches the Fish Finelli series starring nine-year-old Fish and his two best friends, who live in a seaside town where Captain Kidd allegedly buried treasure that’s never been uncovered. When a smug bully named Bryce bets Fish that he can’t find Kidd’s treasure, Fish and his pals set out to prove him wrong. Their quest involves brushes with the shady town librarian, who appears to have the same mission, and with a wealthy widow who owns the island where Fish believes Kidd’s treasure map is hidden. Much of the narrative consists of boy-buddy banter, heavy on the yuks, and some comical misunderstandings. Mixing fiction with fact, Farber (Islands of the Black Moon) also laces Fish’s dialogue with scientific and historic tidbits, and she includes sidebars about people, animals, and objects of varying relevance and interest, from Captain Kidd and Marco Polo to pieces of eight, walkie-talkies, and stingrays. Though this treasure hunt offers some moments of suspense, the wrap-up is a bit anticlimactic. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 8–12.

March 1, 2013
Combine the curiosity of three boys, the discovery of a map of an island and the legend of Captain Kidd's buried treasure and what do you get? A funny gem of a middle-grade mystery, the first of a series. Fish Finelli (his real name is Norman, but the first word he said was "Fish") and his pals T.J., who's constantly eating all kinds of candy, and Roger, who's always equipped with a pun, set out to find the rumored Captain Kidd's long-lost loot. Obstacles galore--piles of goose poop, a suspicious librarian and a bet with a bully, among others--guarantee comic scenes. The dialogue is contemporary, and the chapter headings add clever flair: "The Librarian's Got the Booty?!" Small sidebars scattered throughout provide context and background facts, informing readers just who was Nikola Tesla (the namesake of Fish's goldfish) and the history of old tech like walkie-talkies and new(ish) tech like microwave ovens. The boys enjoy a remarkable degree of freedom, tempered with prominent but natural references to PFDs and the like, giving readers some jolly, vicarious thrills. It's rollicking fun and a welcome new series, a great boys' counterpart to such stellar girls' series as Ivy + Bean. (Mystery. 8-12)

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June 1, 2013

Gr 3-5-Fish Finelli wants nothing more from the summer before fifth grade than to fix up his boat with a supercharged Seagull motor and win Whooping Hollow's annual Captain Kidd Classic boat race. A new Seagull costs more than 50 bucks, and Fish has only saved up $27.51. When local bully Bryce Billings baits Fish into a bet that he and his friends Roger and T.J. can't find Captain Kidd's fabled lost treasure, rumored to be buried somewhere near Whooping Hollow, Fish finds himself knee-deep in a mysterious pirate adventure with all his Seagull savings on the line. This light adventure novel's winning humor shines bright, brimming with nautical and pirate-themed wordplay and wisecracks. When Roger finds out that librarian Mr. E. Mann may have the treasure map, he cleverly observes, "Whoa! The librarian's got the booty!" Fish Finelli is well versed in almost everything but remains a relatable protagonist, never veering into know-it-all territory. Some readers may be put off by the characterization of Fish's overweight friend T.J., who is shown snacking in virtually every scene in which he appears; the joke gets old quickly, even when it moves the plot forward. Beene's full-page, black-and-white digital cartoons energetically accompany Fish's adventures. In the end, Farber never gets too wrapped up in the story's mystery aspects, tying up several loose ends relatively quickly. The narrative focuses instead on friendship and making the right choices, set against the backdrop of Captain Kidd's legend.-Ted McCoy, Oakland Public Library, CA

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2013
In his first outing, precocious Norman "Fish" Finelli and his friends search for Captain Kidd's famed long-lost treasure while frequent sidebars explain the science and history behind the trivia-nut narrator's many dropped facts. Scatological humor adds entertainment for the young middle-grade set. Beene's black-and-white illustrations show amiable, earnest-faced young detectives prowling land and sea for booty.

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)