Tomes of Miscellany: Shark Bait

Tomes of Miscellany

Welcome to the land of danger and intrigue, where individuals are legion and non-conformity is the norm. Join me as I explore the many facets of humanity and meet the scum of the earth and its angels incarnate.

W A R N I N G !

This review does not represent the opinions of the general public. It reflects my personal thoughts and opinions on the book.

That said, on to the review!

Title: Shark Bait
Author: Graham Salisbury
Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell Books
Format: Paperback
Copyright Date: 1997

Everyone knows life isn't easy, and some have it harder than others. Mokes' life isn't that bad--it could well be worse--when compared to others. After all, he's got both of his parents, all the friends he needs, and with the summer here no school work to deal with. But that doesn't mean he has no problems. Living in Kailua-Kona has its ups and downs, and one of the major downs is that one of his friends--has a hard edge to him, and just now has a bone to pick with Navy personnel. And if that sailor isn't on the next ship that arrives in the harbor, well, there are plenty of other sailors to take his place, right? And Mokes, who respects Booley, is determined to stand beside him when the fight goes down. But now Mokes has a dilemma on his hands: he's promised his father to be home by six o'clock. Should he obey his father and turn his back on Booley and his other friends, or go to the fight and lose the respect of his father?

Despite the title, Shark Bait isn't about sharks, or fishing, or even about buying fish at the store. No, this book is about growing up in Hawaii, with all the peaks and pitfalls that await anyone reaching towards maturity when they still have time to be young and carefree. Of course, sometimes it takes a failure in that quest towards adulthood and falling flat on your face to actually be that next step towards becoming a grown-up.

I suppose that I, being a resident of the island, have a difficult time imagining that any of the other islands share in problems so common on O'ahu. Blind of me, I know, but there it is. This book, however, plainly showed me that the other islands do have their share of problems, some in common with O'ahu and others unique to themselves. I won't make a guess as to the chronal setting of this book--some things don't fit in with the present--but there are only three police officers and the arrival of a navy boat is still a big thing, so maybe somewhere between 1960 and the present. Despite that, the novel is still filled with events and sentiments all to evident in the present era.

Shark Bait is without a doubt a compelling read. The events of the novel don't seem to span much more than a day or two at most, but there is a lot of action to read through, and I practically guarantee that once you start reading you won't want to stop until you get to the last page. Don't believe me? Well, try it and find out!

Rating: Thumbs up! Growing up is never easy, because even the grown-ups (or those who seem like grown-ups) can still do some growing up!

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