Shark Beneath the Reef

Like his father and grandfather before him, 14-year-old Tomás Torres dreams of catching a great shark in the Sea of Cortez — and he will catch it, although there are other things he should be thinking about. With an education, her could someday become a marine biologist. Tomás's family want him to stay in school. But Tomás knows he will be more help to them if he leaves school now to become a fisherman.
Should he drop out?
The choice is Tomás alone — a difficult one for a boy just becoming a man. It is only underwear, in a confrontation with the fisherman's greatest prize and worst enemy, that Tomás finds the strength to make his decision.

On the Island of Coronado, a young Mexican fisherman comes of age as he becomes aware of the politics, corruption, and changes around him.

Like his father and grandfather before him, 14-year-old Tomás Torres dreams of catching a great shark in the Sea of Cortez — and he will catch it, although there are other things he should be thinking about. With an education, her could someday become a marine biologist. Tomás's family want him to stay in school. But Tomás knows he will be more help to them if he leaves school now to become a fisherman.
Should he drop out?
The choice is Tomás alone — a difficult one for a boy just becoming a man. It is only underwear, in a confrontation with the fisherman's greatest prize and worst enemy, that Tomás finds the strength to make his decision.

Jean Craighead George is the author of over eighty books for children and young adults. Her novel Julie of the Wolves won the Newbery Medal in 1973, and her novel My Side of the Mountain was a Newbery Honor Book in 1960. She has continued to write acclaimed picture books and novels that celebrate the natural world. She lives in Chappaqua, New York, and has had over 173 pets in the time she has lived there, among them geese and ducks.