This middle grade nonfiction book has twenty short chapters containing weird but true ocean-related stories.   From exploding whales to underwater cities, readers will be introduced to events and information they likely have never heard of before.  Some of the stories are included because they are fantastical and hard to believe, others are more informative and connect the interesting story to on-going research or important concepts like climate change.   The chapters are short and can be read in manageable chunks and there is a table of contents to direct readers who don’t want to read the book cover to cover or in order by chapter.  There are sidebars which break up the text, but they are usually sentences taken directly from the text and don’t offer any new or interesting information.  There is also a thorough list of sources at the end as well as a glossary.  The glossary contains many new terms, but the terms aren’t bold or italicized in the text, so readers wouldn’t necessarily know to refer to the glossary. Readers who love learning about the ocean will enjoy this book, but it’s not an essential addition for a nonfiction collection.

Reviewed by Lindsay Varnum, Orono Public Library