Jellyfish: A Natural History

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The aspect of Suzy that I totally believed was her social awkwardness. This totally rang true. She's a smart girl. She learns well from her science teacher and pushes herself to talk when its that or fail. She just doesn't have a gauge about what to share or not share... but she learns!! We see through the lens of the past that she slowly put it together. She's not lost a friend before and this was her first and only friend. She had a learning curve... (aren't many of us socially awkward at first?!) No wonder I Am Jellyfish won Best Picture Book at this year’s New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. Sterling rhyming, immersive illustrations, action, compassion, and a glow-in-the-dark cover to encourage littlies to turn off the light at bedtime. Mary de Ruyter, North and South Suzy postulates that Franny's death was the result of Irukandji syndrome after Suzy learns about jellyfish on a field trip to an unnamed aquarium, which Benjamin states is the New England Aquarium in the end notes. [3] While researching the subject, Suzy identifies the following real-life jellyfish experts she thinks could ask for help: The Thing About Jellyfish is a touching tale about a young girl whose best (and only) friend drowns while on holiday. As the story progresses we discover that Suzy’s grief is much more than just the loss of her friend, but frustration at something happening without apparent reason, and regret about the things that took place between them before her friend died. Such a lot for a young soul to carry. I finished this last night, but I’m still feeling emotional about it. I’m so pleased I discovered this book.

While The Thing About Jellyfish needed some rewriting in my mind the narrative alone is so gorgeous!! Ignore the child protagonist and explore loss, grief and friendship... Through Suzy's quest to prove her theory, the reader is treated to a handful of fascinating facts about jellyfish. I now know that jellyfish don't have brains, that some species can clone themselves and the various fatal effects of a jellyfish sting. I am sure my new found jellyfish expertise will come in handy someday, but for now they're just making me paranoid of swimming in open water. No more swimsuits for me.

How does the immortal jellyfish live forever?

Science Plays Lead Role In New Book Aimed At Young Adults". WBUR. 28 September 2015 . Retrieved 10 June 2018. I feel like I’ve just had a life changing lesson in jellyfish, amongst other important things, from a very smart 12 year old. I liked her outlook on life, the world and the people around her. I admired her strength and confidence, despite not being popular at school. There was something special within her that I wish I’d had when I was being bullied at school. Perhaps I did have it, but didn’t realise it at the time. I had very frizzy hair too, and I wanted to tell her, it’s okay Frizz Ease and hair straighteners will become your best friends once you’re a little older. You can control the frizz. There's no single right way to say goodbye to someone you love. But the most important thing is that you keep some part of them inside you." Fleming, Mike Jr. (27 January 2017). "Oddlot Teams With Bruna Papandrea & Reese Witherspoon On 'The Thing About Jellyfish' ". Deadline . Retrieved 10 June 2018.

Not one of the signs of asperger's was used properly to me... IF the author intended Suzy to have the syndrome or be on the autism spectrum. Since the book didn't mention either way and the therapist in The Thing About Jellyfish who SHOULD have seen the signs said nothing to the parents I'm operating under the impression that Suzy is normal... Book smart but people slow. Jellyfish are, like the mythical Medusa, both beautiful and potentially dangerous. Found from pole to tropic, these mesmeric creatures form an important part of the sea's plankton and vary in size from the gigantic to the minute. Perceived as alien creatures and seen as best avoided, jellyfish nevertheless have the power to fascinate: with the sheer beauty of their translucent bells and long, trailing tentacles; with a mouth that doubles as an anus; and without a head or brain. Publishers Weekly gave the novel a starred review, calling it "a shining example of the highs and lows of early adolescence, as well as a testament to the grandeur of the natural world." [8] Jacqueline Kelly, reviewing for The New York Times, said it was "heartfelt and fascinating" and believed "a lot of children [...] might not only benefit from this book but also [would] find themselves deeply moved by it." [9] Awards [ edit ] If people were silent, they could hear the noise of their own lives better. If people were silent, it would make what they did say, whenever they chose to say it, more important. If people were silent, they could read one another's signals, the way underwater creatures flash lights at one another, or turn their skin different colors." Suzy Swanson stopped talking when her best friend Franny died in a drowning accident. Channeling her lingering guilt over her last encounter with Franny and grief, Suzy turns to silence and science. Refusing to take her mother's stoic explanation that things just happen, Suzy shuts everybody out and obsessively works out a grandiose plan to prove that a jellyfish sting is the real reason for her best friend's death.The species T. dohrnii was first described by scientists in 1883. It was 100 years later, in the 1980s, that their immortality was accidentally discovered. In the end, Suzanne," [she] continued, "it's a gift to spend time with people we care about. Even if it's imperfect. Even if the time doesn't end when, or how, we expected. Even when that person leaves us." Drawing upon myth and historical sources as well as modern scientific advances, Jellyfish examines our ambiguous relationship with these ancient and yet ill-understood animals, describing their surprisingly complex anatomy, weaponry and habits, and their vital contribution to the ocean's ecosystem. The theme is said to be grief but the way the split narrative bonded us to Suzy and Franny's friendship, I really think the real theme is friendship. What do we do when we lose our only friend? ANYONE can relate to losing a friend... not necessarily to death but to time, to other friends and interests. The only problem is that the friends Suzy could have become friends with weren't shown becoming friends! They just suddenly were in the end, as a salve to grief. In 2019, Ruth was made an Arts Foundation Laureate, receiving the Mallinson Rendel Illustration Award.

I will admit that this cover totally sold The Thing About Jellyfish to me. It's melancholy but hopeful... We understand immediately that the jellyfish are a symbol of a greater idea. An adult and a middle grader would be attracted to the illustration, perfect for those buying for a young reader and a young reader both. One issue I did have with this book was the way the dialogue was written. There was seemingly no variation, besides Suzy's internal dialogue, in the way everyone spoke. Sure, they could be mean, they could be kind, they could be just giving a report, but it all felt like the same person was talking each time. The dialogue was also handled in a sort of "after school special" kind of way. Don't get me wrong, "Sesame Street" is great, but not if a twelve-year-old boy is talking to a girl his age in that manner, the same way her parent or her teacher or her older brother would talk to her. I liked the narrative voice, and at first I was intrigued by the connections drawn to jellyfish. But there were a LOT of jellyfishy facts, and I kept wondering why I didn't feel anything for this story of a girl who's so traumatized by her former best friend's death that she will no longer speak. Sometimes you want things to change so badly, you can’t even stand to be in the same room with the way things actually are. After her best friend dies in a drowning accident, Suzy is convinced that the true cause of the tragedy must have been a rare jellyfish sting--things don't just happen for no reason. Retreating into a silent world of imagination, she crafts a plan to prove her theory--even if it means traveling the globe, alone. Suzy's achingly heartfelt journey explores life, death, the astonishing wonder of the universe...and the potential for love and hope right next door.And once I did, the very next day at the literary fiction writer-friend's bookstore she owns with her poet-husband, I could not put it down. Looking for that book that has solid parents? This is it. They aren't perfect but they clearly try and they love Suzy even in divorce. Her brother and his boyfriend are also there for Suzy. While I would have loved to have experienced their conversations with Suzy at the end I did love how they were portrayed so that kids can see... family is there for you. You feel alone, but you aren't!! Quanto a mim satisfatoriamente, pois oferece-nos um caminho...uma receita de sobrevivência, por assim dizer!... This life cycle reversal can be repeated, and in perfect conditions, it may be that these jellyfish would never die of old age. I had some trouble with this book. The mental health was all over the place. The split narrative while wonderful in the past parts was boring and slow in the present. We were told way, way too much in the present (used in adult contemporary books a lot) instead of shown (which is better for middle grade readers).

It’s a story that warrants repeated readings, for entertainment and to appreciate the small but mighty hero Jellyfish. Hannah Taylor-Rose, Magpies I’ve always been fascinated by jellyfish. One of my earliest memories is the discovery of a huge washed up jellyfish in Wales, sprawled out on the sand like a strange alien creature. My parents have a word for what I do—constant-talking , like that is a single word—and they explain to me that it is important to let others talk, too. Ask people questions, my mom always says. It’s not a conversation if you’re constant-talking. And I try to remember that, to ask people things. This book is meant for middle schoolers, and despite the delicate topics explored, Ali Benjamin's introspective prose remains middle-school appropriate. My only issue is that even after all the build-up for Suzy's closure doubling as a grand adventure, the denouement felt somewhat rushed and all too convenient.Ali Benjamin (2015). "Interview With Ali Benjamin - 2015 National Book Award Finalist, Young People's Literature" (Interview). Interviewed by Tim Manley. National Book Foundation . Retrieved 10 June 2018. By now I was twelve years old and starting my second year of middle school. I knew a few things about grown-ups. And here’s one of the things I knew: Grown-ups are like everybody else—they don’t actually want you to say what you’re thinking. Mental health illustrated in books will always cause extreme opinions because its such a personal subject. We assume everyone has the same experiences and we assume the knowledge we have is absolutely correct. Even #ownvoices authors can muddle illustrating mental health issues because they are so close to the subject. As a writer myself to me its better to imagine the character and not the mental health when I'm writing... And I feel like even if Ali Benjamin was inspired by an asperger's list of signs it may be that Suzy turned out to just be really struggling and not autistic at all. Most of all, I don’t understand why small talk is considered more polite than not-talking. It’s like when people applaud after a performance. Have you ever heard someone not clap after a performance? People clap every time, no matter whether it was good or bad. They even applaud after the Eugene Field band plays its annual concert, and that’s really saying something. So wouldn’t it be easier and take less time and effort to just not clap? Because it would mean the same thing, which is nothing at all. What my dad wanted, I suspect, was the thing everybody seems to want: small talk. I don't understand small talk. I don't even understand why it's called that - small talk - when it fills up so much space.