THE SHARK IN THE WINDOW

by Keo Felker Lazarus ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 6, 1972

If you accept the hypothesis repeatedly advanced by eleven year-old Shelly that the vitamin E he feeds Nippy, his baby shark, lets its blood absorb more oxygen and also causes the cells to mutate and produce a lighter-than-air gas, then everything else about this sixth-grade boy and his flying pet is as normal and everyday (but never as funny) as Henry Huggins and his guppies. When predictable complications result in Mom's ultimatum that Nippy must go, Shelly takes the shark to an aquarium but runs away with it after mistakenly concluding that the scientists plan to dissect Nippy. After a similar misunderstanding with a group of broadly drawn hippies who take him in for the night, Shelly comes to terms with the aquarium ($100 is the figure) and we leave him planning to buy a golden retriever with the check. Mrs. Lazarus' tone is appropriately light and it's easy to sail through the unlikely events, but her inventiveness falters after the initial conceit, resulting early on in a rapidly growing flying shark with no place to go but out of the pictures.

Pub Date: Sept. 6, 1972

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Morrow

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1972

Categories: FICTION