The Boy Who Swam with Piranhas

by David Almond, Oliver Jeffers (Illustrator)

Overview

“A buoyant, delightfully Almond-ine coming-of-age novel about fish, fate, and family; moonlight, madness, and myth; runts, “Rackanruwin” and, finally, redemption.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

When Stanley Potts’s guardian, Uncle Ernie, develops an unhealthy obsession with fish, Stan has no choice but to strike out on his own. Far from the life he knows, he’s welcomed by a carnival of eccentric characters, including the legendary Pancho Pirelli, the man who swims with piranhas. Will Stan, too, be bold enough to dive into the churning waters and choose his destiny? Full of wry wordplay and visual whimsy, David Almond’s quirky tale is richly matched by Oliver Jeffers’s black-and-white illustrations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763676803
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	02/24/2015
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.12(w) x 7.82(h) x 0.67(d)
Lexile:	550L (what's this?)
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

  

Editorial Reviews

Dahl meets J. K., flavored with a soupçon of Choose Your Own Adventure, but in the end, this novel is all pure, sweet Almond. ... In the subtlest ways possible, Almond masterfully makes young readers understand this, and they will be delighted that life lessons can be administered so deliciously.
—Booklist (starred review)

A buoyant, delightfully Almond-ine coming-of-age novel about fish, fate and family; moonlight, madness and myth; runts, “Rackanruwin” and, finally, redemption.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Readers who have read Almond’s other books will be entertained by the decisions Stan makes, especially when he leaves home, as many youngsters fantasize about that.
—Library Media Connection

This has some of the fantasy quality of a Roald Dahl novel but without the dark heart that lies at the core of many of Dahl’s works. Almond’s narrative is both quirky and dreamlike, and the kindness of many of the characters propels it forward with positive energy. The present-tense narration is sometimes lyrical, sometimes straightforward or confiding, and the combination of these styles is surprisingly effective. Almond has a deft touch with the moonlight and mysticism, allowing readers to linger a bit in the mystery but at the same time unspooling the tale’s trajectory purposefully and thoughtfully. Jeffers’ frequent and slightly offbeat monochromatic illustrations are well matched to Almond’s whimsical text. ... [A] real catch.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Master storyteller Almond combines delicious wordplay, zany antics, wacky characters, and a bit of magical realism in a novel that touches the heart. Quick-paced, accessible, and enhanced by stylized cartoonlike drawings, this book is sure to be enjoyed by fans of humorous, quirky stories.
—School Library Journal

Almond ventures far afield from the almost hallucinatory magical realism that characterized his earliest work, offering up some lighthearted fare for a younger audience. This book, complete with old-fashioned intrusive narrator and numerous spot illustrations, seems to have more in common with the work of Roald Dahl or Frank Cottrell Boyce; yet the silliness is tempered by an unsentimental, clear-eyed wisdom, marking it unmistakably as the work of Almond.
—The Horn Book

Bold, imaginative, and funny, Stanley’s bigger-than-life escapades will tickle imaginations.
—Publishers Weekly

With its quirky humor, fantastical plot and delightful illustrations by Oliver Jeffers, The Boy Who Swam with Piranhas is a perfect book for end-of-summer reading.
—BookPage

Roald Dahl fans take note: David Almond's The Boy Who Swam With Piranhas has all the makings of one of Dahl's classic coming-of-age tales.
—FamilyFun

From the Publisher

As he did in The Boy Who Climbed to the Moon, Almond strikes a lighter, more whimsical note in the story of orphan Stanley Potts. After Stanley’s guardian, Uncle Ernie, is fired from his job, the man quickly rebounds with “big, big plans” to build a fish cannery in his home. When ambition and greed prompt Uncle Ernie to dip his fingers into Stanley’s bucket of pet goldfish, an infuriated Stanley leaves home and joins a carnival. He is working the hook-a-duck stall when he is discovered by Pancho Pirelli, a man renowned for performing the death-defying act of swimming with piranhas. Pancho, on the verge of retirement, is looking for a replacement, and Stanley might fit the bill. Reinventing oneself can be dangerous, disastrous, or fortuitous, as this proudly silly tale (and Jeffers’s equally blithe spot art) illustrate, and there will always be members of the establishment (in this case, DAFT, the “Departmint for the Abolishun of Fishy Things”) trying to prevent the realization of dreams. Bold, imaginative, and funny, Stanley’s bigger-than-life escapades will tickle imaginations. Ages 9–12. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

10/01/2013
Gr 5–7—When Stanley Potts's Uncle Ernie takes his fish-canning business in a new, inhumane direction, the orphaned boy decides to leave the home his relatives made for him and join a traveling carnival of Gypsies. With the guidance of the hook-a-duck booth proprietor Dostoyevsky, Stan finds success tending the goldfish prizes and forms a tentative friendship with the boss's prickly daughter, Nitasha, who broods over the desertion of her ballerina mother. Big news is the arrival of famous Pancho Pirelli, who swims in a tank with piranhas. Pirelli is convinced that Stan is destined to be his successor and sets about teaching him to dive, to overcome fear, and to find faith in himself. Meanwhile, as Stan settles into his new life, back home Uncle Ernie and Aunt Annie are distraught over his disappearance and plagued by DAFT, the Departmint for the Abolishun of Fishy Things. Setting out to find him, they unintentionally lead DAFT to the carnival, where mayhem ensues. Master storyteller Almond combines delicious wordplay, zany antics, wacky characters, and a bit of magical realism in a novel that touches the heart. Quick-paced, accessible, and enhanced by stylized cartoonlike drawings, this book is sure to be enjoyed by fans of humorous, quirky stories.—Marie Orlando, formerly at Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY

School Library Journal

In British novelist Almond's latest, the trouble starts when Ernie Potts decides to turn his house on Fish Quay Lane into a loud, stinky fish-canning factory, and his nephew Stan has to quit school to work. But the adventure starts on Stan's birthday, when he's granted a rare day off, stumbles upon a nearby fair and is told by the fortunetelling Gypsy Rose, "You are entranced. You will be dejected. You will travel. And we will meet again." Stan, however, is too entranced by the dying goldfish offered as prizes at Mr. Dostoyevsky's hook-a-duck stall to absorb her prophecy. He rescues the 13 fish--but in vain. Greedy and obsessed, Uncle Ernie pan-fries and cans his nephew's new best friends that very night, and Stan, knowing Ernie is now truly barmy, runs away. Stan heads back to the traveling carnival, where he soon becomes the protégé of the mustachioed Pancho Pirelli, the piranha-proof man. Almond's wonderstruck philosophical bent, earthy humor, lovely use of language and colorful characters keep readers swimming along, as does the personable narrator who playfully demands an examination of the storytelling process as it happens. Jeffers' spare, cartoonish pencil sketches perfectly suit the salty, magical tale. A buoyant, delightfully Almond-ine coming-of-age novel about fish, fate and family; moonlight, madness and myth; runts, "Rackanruwin" and, finally, redemption. (Fiction. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews