I grew up watching the television specials by Jacques Cousteau in the 1960s. In this graphic novel formatted story, we read about Jacques Cousteau’s grandson, Fabien Cousteau carrying on his grandfather’s love of the ocean and research. This is a work of fiction, but I am finding myself wanting to display this book in my nonfiction shark section so all the shark lovers will find it. This is a story about shark conservation and research with Fabien Cousteau as the lead on the research team. The author’s note states, ” Great White Shark Adventure is a work of fiction based on actual expeditions and accepted ideas about the ocean and its inhabitants.”

Illustrator Joe St. Pierre makes this adventure come to life! I liked it better than a live action show because the action is obviously freeze framed. Nothing advanced until I was ready to turn the page.

Fabien and his crew, along with two junior expeditioners- Bella and Marcus, are off to research local South African tuna fishermen’s claims of seeing a massive great white shark off the coast of Gansbaai. Twelve and thirteen yr. old Bella and Marcus taking part in the research ship’s mission gives author James O. Fraioli reason to explain shark behavior, ecosystems, habitats, boat equipment, local area history, and much more to the reader as part of the story, whereas the rest of the ship’s crew already know this information. It is all masterfully woven into the story.

The crew find sharks right away. The massive one they are searching for is very elusive. It takes several tries and several different types of equipment over the course of several days before the crew successfully locates THE one shark they are after. The shark is tagged with “A PSAT TAG, WHICH STANDS FOR ‘POP-UP SATELLITE ARCHIVAL TAG’…WILL ALLOW US TO ANSWER MIGRATORY PATTERNS, FEEDING MOVEMENTS, DAILY HABITS, AND EVEN SURVIVAL, SHOULD THIS SHARK BE CAUGHT…” (43)

Shark fans will love this book!