~ Annie Trask, Blue Team
Lolly Emmerson is an independent, free-spirited, fifteen-year-old, who sets out for an evening sail on her boat, the “Mugwump,” in the Florida Keys. She leaves a note for her mother, and heads to the small boat she has sailed on countless journeys. This time, though, things are different; they don’t go as smoothly as usual. Her boat hits something underwater, causing it to overturn. Suddenly, Lolly is thrown overboard with only her life-vest for support. After hours of struggling and receiving a bump on her leg, she is absolutely sure that her boat has collided with a bull shark.
What if it’s still under there someplace…!?!
Finally, she manages to get back on the boat, but her fragile hold doesn’t last long before she slips right back into the sea-foamy water, and what she believes to be a certain death.
However, as Lolly beautifully relates her story, she explains that it wasn’t a shark she hit, but three manatees. One of them allows Lolly to glide through the water on his back, to a warm spring. Lolly credits these beautiful creatures with her eventual survival, but, once rescued, she finds it difficult to describe her curious adventure to news reporters and interested friends.
Read this great novel about friendship, courage, and trust, and watch Lolly’s relationship grow with the manatees!
