The Shark Caller

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Atmospheric, captivating and deeply moving, The Shark Caller is difficult to put down once started and difficult to forget once finished - it's once of those stories that will stay with me for a long time. Unlike in some of the books I’ve read this year, all of the characters painted within the book are utterly credible and Blue Wing in particular is one who many young readers will be able to empathise with. Taken in by Siringen after the deaths of her parents, she is emotionally lost, and while he provides her with the necessities of life as he sees them – shelter, food etc – he does not appear to be particularly paternal in the way that he treats her. Yes, he is wise and supports her in trying to develop a relationship with Maple but for much of the book he appears intent on ensuring that she behaves as she should, rather than seeing that she needs to be given a certain amount of freedom to become her own person. This belittling of the Shark Caller does not however prevent the Bigman telling Siringen that he is to be given the responsibility of looking after a new visitor – an American professor of coral, who will be staying on the island together with his daughter. Blue Wing is not happy that they are to be housed in the hut that used to belong to her family and decides that she hates them before she has even met them. As they arrive, she spies on them and talks to Chimera – the daughter of a witch doctor, who lives outside of the village – telling her of her resentment. Blue Wing and her Waspapi speak a form of Papuan Pidgin English which gives the story telling a greater sense of place.

Oprhaned child Blue Wing is desperate to be a shark caller like Siringen, her waspapi, but he will not let her. The skill of shark calling is rooted in tradition and should only be passed down from uncle to nephew. Siringen also knows the reason for Blue Wing’s desperation to call sharks - to gain revenge on the shark that caused the death of her parents two years ago. Can the two girls discover what secrets Maple’s father is hiding from her, and what will happen when Blue Wing decides to try to summon the sharks without Siringen’s knowledge? Will she be able to break the traditions of her people and take over from him to become the latest in a long line of Shark Callers, or is she destined for something else? Set in a rural village on the shores of Papua New Guinea, this is a remarkable tale of love, loss and friendship. Following the death of her parents, Blue Wing moves in with Siringen, a gentle village elder who becomes her waspapi, or guardian. Obsessed by his role as a shark caller, Blue Wing pleads with Siringen to teach her this ancient tradition, but he refuses, fearing that the anger in her heart will lead her to misuse the skills. When Maple and her father arrive on the island of Papua New Guinea, Blue Wing is upset that they have taken the hut where she lived with her parents who died in a tragic incident. But slowly Maple and Blue Wing discover that they have more in common than they think, that their sadness has similar roots and they form a strong friendship.

Chimera’s appearance in the story, begins to change the way Blue Wing thinks about Maple. The daughter of a witch-doctor, Chimera has been cast out of the village by Bigman, to live in a cave. Blue Wing likes to visit her and talk. On one occasion, she takes along Maple, who wants to ask Chimera a very important and sensitive question. The character of Blue Wing was powerful and likeable – the use of her dialect/speech pattern easily helped me to learn more about her character and become a part of this story. Bethell explored the relationship between Maple and Blue Wing slowly and simply and their friendship developed through little actions and shared memories. The plot felt simple, but deep with so many key messages of acceptance of grief and forgiveness of yourself layered throughout. I think central to the story is the idea of guilt and this was handled so beautifully that often I was in tears. At first, the girls are too angry to share their secrets and become friends. But when the tide breathes the promise of treasure, they must journey together to the bottom of the ocean to brave the deadliest shark of them all... This is a gorgeous read – one suitable for Year 5 upwards and one that reminded me very much of When Life Gives you Mangoes in its depiction of friendships and the changes that affect girls in their transition from childhood towards being an adult. While – as I said when I reviewed that title – I know that many of my boys will sadly see that as a girls’ book because of its predominantly pink cover, I am hoping that the blue tones of the cover art and the prospect of sharks will entice all of my class, including the boys, to read this. They will be in for an enormous treat when they do. The Shark Caller by Zillah Bethell is a living, breathing story of colourful imagery and magnificent language set on the beautiful island of Papua New Guinea. It is a story of respect and responsibility, the conflict of traditions versus what is perceived to be progress, and a personal search for truth, forgiveness and finding oneself.

I finished The Shark Caller on New Year's Day and only hours into 2021, I think I may have found one of my favourite books of the year! The Shark Caller walks the line between middle grade and YA perfectly. It is equally at home in either classification. A tale of grief, friendship and acceptance - both of circumstances and cultures different to your own. This is an awesome book by Zillah Bethell. Set on a wonderful island, which no doubt, Bethell got much from her own upbringing in Papua New Guinea. Blue Wing, whose parents were killed by a shark is the main character in the story. Xok – the name Blue Wing has given to the shark - is her number one enemy. She is determined to get revenge for the death of her parents. This book was so full of rich and wonderfully woven world building and culture - you can tell the author lived this life because the reading experience fully engulfs you and spits you out onto a beach in Papua New Guinea. The sea, the sand, the heat, the lives of these villagers, the book was slow paced in terms of storyline because so much attention to detail was given to the area it took place, this village was a character in itself. This book tells the story of Blue Wing and Maple, a native and new comer to the small island where Blue Wing has lived all her life. Both have suffered the loss of a parent. Although at first they are not able to get along, they soon learn to trust and love each other as best friends/sisters. Slowly they share their experiences of loss, and work together to help Maple’s father on his personal quest to find out an ancient secret. There are explanations about the skills of shark calling ( a genuine tradition) and lots of descriptions of sharks and local wildlife.Both Blue Wing and Siringen have a wonderful affinity with the world they live in, respecting the natural environment and reluctant to let the modern world encroach on their idyll. They want to keep the traditions of their people alive, despite the changing times. However, change is forced upon them by the village chief who is intent on modernising the island and opening it up to the outside world. He has demanded that Siringen look after visitors to the island: an American professor who has come to study the coral and his daughter, Maple. As a bit of a shark fanatic, I love that one of the messages offered here is that they aren't the big scary creatures that they are always made out to be. Whenever you mention wanting to dive with sharks to people they tend to give you a look like you are insane, but here we see that they can be peaceful creatures unless they feel threatened. The Shark Caller is Zillah Bethell’s remarkable new book that leaves you completely stunned and totally in awe of the wonderful storytelling. Sometimes people I haven’t seen for a long time, send me a recent photograph. I look at it and vaguely recognise the person I once knew. A few days later, however, my mind seems to discard the new image in favour of the image I have of when I knew the person in real life. It’s as if the mind can’t connect to an image that isn’t real. I’m so glad you loved this so much and that it resonated so much with you personally. This is a wonderful review.