Sashimi

SASHIMI is a silly, comedic graphic novel about school, friendship, and fitting in. Sashimi is a fishboy that finds himself in a school when he runs away from a pirate. At school, Sashimi is a fish out of water (literally and figuratively). As he navigates bullies and difficulty fitting in, he soon finds his people and friends.

What I loved: This a clever graphic novel with relatable themes to middle grade readers. Feeling different, dealing with bullying, and making new friends are experiences that many children will find familiar. In this book, all of these situations are infused with humor as Sashimi is navigating these new experiences in his own way. He finds a way to stand up to bullies, understands the humor of other kids, and finds a group of friends who are also a bit different.

The story moves quickly and is perfectly suited to the graphic novel format. There is a focus on the images to tell the story with sparse call-outs and easily attributable speech bubbles, so it is easy to read and follow along. The images are well done with plenty of color and detail. Children will find a lot of humor in Sashimi's experiences, the jokes he tells, and the things he does (as well as the name of the poopdeck, which is explained). This is a great start to a new series!

There are also some interesting themes about food sources and humans around nature/fish-eating and school budgets. The school has been impacted by a lot of budget cuts that means the whole class shares one textbook, which makes learning challenging. When Sashimi donates a scale for money in the contest to catch the Beast, he turns the money around to get the school new textbooks.

Final verdict: SASHIMI is an engaging and humorous graphic novel about being different, friendship, and school challenges that middle grade readers are sure to enjoy! Can't wait to see more from this relatable and funny series!

Strange things are happening in Barnacle Bay! When Sashimi comes to shore, grabs a hoodie, and joins Miss Wilcox's classroom, the students ask a lot of questions, but don't get a lot of answers. Joey is assigned to show Shashimi around, but since he is new himself and a target of Billy's bullying, he's reluctant to be seen with a bug eyed student who sweats a lot. This, of course, is how Sashimi, who is really a fish boy, breathes. While he's living in the school and talking to Kevin, the class goldfish, he feels like he should investigate the Beast of Barnacle Bay, since there is a huge festival surrounding the creature. He has a bad experience at a grocery store with some high octane sugar soda and is kicked out after he goes nuts; Billy is there and takes him home to meet his grandfather. Poopdeck Pete is obsessed with the Beast, and gives tours of the bay. Sashimi tells Joey the truth after an incident where Sashimi tries to flush himself down the toilet: he is a fish boy and was chased ashore by Joey's grandfather, and has been living in the school. After meeting with Ben at the local history museum, Sashimi decides to enter the contest to catch the Beast, since there's a $10,000 prize. There is all kinds of drama in the community's participation in this, but in the end, Sashimi donates one of his own scales to the museum, and is rewarded with $500. He donates this money to the school, where budget cuts have been rife, and settles into life in Barnacle Bay. Poopdeck Pete's boat tours experience a resurgence with the interest in the creature, so Joey is happy as well. More adventures, perhaps ones including the very suspiciously damp Ben, are heading to shore.