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| Category: Fiction:Children |
(requires Adobe Reader)
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| About the Book | |
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The humpback whales have declared an island in the part of the Great Western Ocean called the "PUH-SI-FIC" to now be safe from the human whale-hunters. But sperm whales do not trust or like man. For protection against clashes with man's deadly whaling fleets,they have organized into the "The United Pods": Eastern, Western, Northern, and Southern "Greater" pods. Each Greater Pod is further divided into groups such as hunter-Squid killer pods, nursery pods, and navigation pods. Seafoam Wavefollower, a juvenile sperm whale and skilled navigator, along with his family navigator pod, is cautiously investigating so-called "safe" area, off an island called "MOWIE" by the humpbacks. Except that Seafoam is not exactly cautious, but is exceedingly curious. Seafoam manages to get himself trapped in a sea cave under the island. Before the “Twenty-Four Hour Rule” rules force his family to abandon him, Seafoam is forced to rely on the ghost of a mysterious Hawaiian boy he doesn’t trust and who doesn't appear comfortable with Seafoam, to lead him the way out via an underground river. One obstacle after another challenges poor Seafoam's sperm whale skill, his stubborn persistence, and his sense of humor. Slowly he and the boy ghost seem to bond as they fight and overcome: (1. traps of nature held in the underground river (a giant whirlpool, impossibly tall underground waterfalls, knives of jagged lava, a treacherous volcanic shaft, and a cavern filled with giant poisonous centipedes), and (2. aggressive warriors trapped underground by a huge earthquake centuries ago, the angry spirits of evil sorcerers, and the petulant spirit of an ancient Hawaiian king trapped underground for a terrible and wrongful act committed against his people. Seafoam is bounced from one fine mess to another. Time is running out. The “Twenty-Four Hour Rule” will soon force his family to abandon him. To escape on time--if at all--the ghost of the boy will have to share a terrible secret a secret that could hold the key to escape...if the king's spirit has not lied to them about a river channel that is supposed to lead to freedom.
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| About the Author | |
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Doctor Briley lives on Maui. Busy as a pediatrician, he shelved his manuscripts (eight books in two series: the Seafoam series, and a series about a miniature dragon called Green Flash). Now retired, he took Seafoam off the shelf and hopes kids (especially) have fun with it. |