How to Outswim a Shark Without a Snorkel (My Life Is a Zoo, 2)

Both my kids (12 and 9) found this and Jess' first novel in the series to be super witty and fun. They've read them multiple times and really love them!

My granddaughter loves this book. She is 11 yrs. old and loves the authors book.

My 4th grade daughter adores all the books in this series!

Last year, Jess Keating’s How To Outrun A Crocodile With Your Shoes Untied charmed me completely with its wacky setting, lovable heroine, and sparkling storytelling. Well Keating returns to Ana Wright’s animal filled world in the wildly funny and sweetly adorkable sequel, How To Outswim A Shark Without A Snorkel!Just when soon-to-be eighth grader, Ana Wright, thought life was getting back to normal (as normal as it can get for the granddaughter of a world famous man and who is forced by her parents to live INSIDE a zoo, oh and after becoming the youngest presenter at the zoo, is sort of semi-famous herself) after the wild events at the beginning of her summer. She still lives in a zoo (but kind of loves it), her BFF is still on the other side of the world (but Ana’s made new friends), she gets to hang out with cutie Kevin (who may or may not like her), and now the zoo is home to an amazing marine life exhibit, where Ana will work and hang out with sharks(!)...oh and her worst enemy, Ashley, will be working with her...ok, so maybe Ana’s life just isn’t meant to be normal!How To Outswim A Shark Without A Snorkel is just as awesome as its predecessor! Jess Keating is such a wonderful storyteller. who effortlessly combines humor, fun facts, heart-warming moments, and relatable teen situations, to create unforgettable and unputdownable middle-grade fiction. I love the zany zoo setting in these books so much! With her zoological background, Keating brings so much experience and knowledge to this world. In this book, Keating vividly creates an ocean world, full of sharks; jellies; seahorses; crabs; shells; and more, within the confines of the zoo. And she expertly weaves in little tidbits and fun animal facts throughout the story in a way that will have readers learning a lot, and not even realizing it!With an absolute pitch-perfect voice, How To Outswim A Shark Without A Snorkel captures those cringe-worthy tween years in laugh-out-loud ways. From big firsts (kisses, leg shaving, shopping for the perfect butt shaping bathing suit) to romantic woes (crushes on guys who may or may not like you back, crushes on gorgeous guys WAY too old for you, and friends who have weird crushes on your gross brother) and tween toughies (mean girls, complicated friendships, and figuring out who you are), Keating explores it all in ways that young (and old!) readers will relate to.Adorkable heroine, Ana, is as endearing, entertaining, and lovable as ever! She’s just such a fun, relatable character to hang out with for a few hours. I loved, loved, loved watching her surprising story with Ashley, her adorable story with Kevin, and her heart-filled story with herself unfold. And of course, Ana’s world is filled with so many other colorful, fun characters, including her oddly charming brother Daz, her sweet new friend Bella, the oh so hot older guy Logan, and more!How To Outswim A Shark Without A Snorkel ends with an exciting splash, surprising arrest, and another sunshine-in-your-heart-makes-you-smile-big (but not in an overly cheesy way)-and-wanna-high-five-Ana kind of way ending.My Final Thoughts: Jess Keating gives readers everything they could hope for in their middle-grade fiction: an awesome heroine, sparkling storytelling, captivating settings, giggle-inducing humor, and a lot of heart. How To Outswim A Shark Without A Snorkel is a spectacular sequel in a must read series!

MY THOUGHTSAna Wright lives in a zoo with her family and her life pretty much revovles around creatures, great and small. She was put on the spot and did a presentation on reptiles that went viral during the school year and now that is summer, she wants nothing more to do than hang out with the animals and relax. Her BFF, Liv, has moved to New Zealand and other than chatting online with her, she feels friendless. Entering the eighth grade next year was something she planned on doing to together with Liv, not alone. She is surprised this summer when her grandfather, who owns the zoo, announces a new exhibit, one that involves water! The new area is taking on new students to help out and when she finds out her worst enemy is going to be her partner there.Ashley is a known mean girl and seems to have it in for Ana. She had tried to sabotage Ana's presentation last year and that left a bad taste in Ana's mouth. Liv has announced that she is being moved up a grade and that their plan for the upcoming year is being pushed up, which means that she must find a boy to have her first kiss with. She has a crush on Kevin but doesn't know how to deal with it. Ashley has been dumped on her but it seems that everything is going wrong at the new exhibit. When gates are left unlocked and other overfed, the supervisor blames the girls but then they each blame the other for the disasters.With the opening day upon them, and Ana in need of a new bathing suit, Ashley decides that Ana has no clue and they go shopping. The two bond (somewhat) and Ana starts to think Ana isn't all bad. This adorable story is full of the pitfalls of growing up and presented in a charming and humorous manner. They finally work together and at the end become friends and all full of the drama that twelve going on thirteen can entail. Parents: this one is very safe for middle graders and with one attempted kiss, nothing to worry about. It also imparts some important lessons about growing up.

I didn't even know this book was a sequel until a few days ago when I checked the Goodreads tab for this book, which goes to show it can definitely stand on it's own. The characters stand out individually, and I was able to grasp them all even though I haven't read the first book in this series (which I will definitely be reading now.)HOW TO OUTSWIM A SHARK WITHOUT A SNORKEL is whimsical, realistic, relatable and fun without overly so. I really enjoyed the plotline, Ana's voice and the uniqueness to this story. There was so much to be enjoyed, and I loved the way she dealt with problems and had her own frustrations in a realistic way. I think that kids will be able to relate really easily with her, but still find humor in the antics of this story and the hurdles she faces.I've never read anything quite like this book, but I'd be more than open to more of it. It was a quick, funny and entertaining read that I would recommend to all middle-grade readers. Happy book birthday to Jess Keating, and I'm so glad I got a chance to read this book! Even though I came into it thinking it would be a touch too out there for me, it was a perfect story and I can't wait to see what other adventures are in store for Ana! 4 stars.