Rating: WORTHY!
Errata:
"the site of his mate" should be " the sight of his mate"
"in the octopus' grasp" should be " in the octopus's grasp" (octopus is singular, but using apostrophe with no following 's' wrongly indicates that it's plural. What is the plural of octopus? It's octopuses. 'Octopi' is not even a word, so avoid that one!
"filled with people form Seaside." should be 'from Seaside"
“Anchor’s away,” should be "Anchors aweigh"
This children's story is set around the town of Seaside, where ten year old Bobby lives on land, and young Walter lives in the ocean. He's an octopus which, contrary to the ideas suggested here, cannot live out of water for any significant length of time, although it can survive and even move around hunting on land for short periods of time. It cannot support itself on its "legs" unless it's in water, however. On land, it slithers and slides rather like a mutated snake.
There are all kinds of octopus videos on You Tube showing escapes. They can move quite well on land for a short time, even though they look improbably flat as they do so do so. Octopuses are the most intelligent non-vertebrate species, and they show excellent problem-solving skills. Also, all octopuses are venomous, although only the blue-ringed octopus is dangerous - even deadly - to humans.
I was amused when I read, "...great white shark hanging upside down." which technically would mean that it was suspended with its dorsal fin underneath, pointed at the ground, and its white belly facing the sky. I think the author meant that it was hanging by its tale, but who knows?! Hanging upside down is funnier. Perhaps the intended children's audience will not notice this.
Despite some textual errors, the overall story was well-written and engrossing, and I don’t doubt that children of the appropriate age will love it. It shows how three very different people (there's also a feisty pelican) can learn to live and work together and overcome oppression and wrong-doing, as well as have some exciting adventures together. Both Walter and Bobby step up where adults fail, and they refuse to give up until they achieve justice. I think the "school bully" motif is rather overdone in children's stories, so I wasn't thrilled to see it represented here, although no school was involved, but that aside, I liked the story and I recommend it.
