Review by Booklist Review
Graham, an award-winning marine biologist, shares her journey from the love of water to discovering marine science as a possible career that would allow her to pursue her fascination with sharks. She recalls her family history in South Carolina, particularly Myrtle Beach, where they settled on "The Hill," a predominantly Black neighborhood; and her youthful experiences, including her disillusionment in high-achieving classes as a Black student searching for common ground and engagement with her white classmates. Graham celebrates the largely unsung marine biologist Eugenie Clark (1922--2015), known as the Shark Lady, and her work and how Clark inspired Graham's own commitment to learning about sharks, ultimately specializing in sawfish and hammerheads. She brings readers into the thick of the action on board a research vessel, experiencing the breeze, the thrashing water, and the excitement of observing, tracking, and tagging sharks. Graham explains why she cofounded Minorities in Shark Sciences (MISS) to support women of color in shark biology and ecology, and her decision to become an independent, or "rogue," shark scientist, seeking to keep herself and sharks free.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this inspiring debut memoir, marine biologist Graham discusses her trials and triumphs as a Black woman in the sciences. Growing up in South Carolina, Graham cultivated a love for the water while fishing with her father. After attending a marine science summer camp as a teenager, she resolved to pursue a career in the field. But she felt out of place in academia (she describes herself as "a unicorn in horse-dominated world that hated horns") and struggled to get ahead professionally. Her isolation ended when she met fellow researcher Carlee Jackson Bohannon, whom she first spotted in a Twitter photo "floating underwater with an adorable nurse shark." After the two compared their struggles, they joined with three other Black women to found Minorities in Shark Sciences (MISS), which offers workshops and grants to minorities in the field. Interspersed with the MISS origin story are endearing sections in which Graham geeks out about sharks, challenging their reputation as killers and sharing fascinating tidbits about their biological processes, including how different species breathe. Vivid prose (the underwater world is "a natural cathedral of bending light") and Graham's palpable enthusiasm for her work make this sing. It's an impassioned tale of ambition and advocacy. Photos. Agent: Chad Luibl, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc. (July)
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Review by Library Journal Review
Marine biologist Graham specializes in smalltooth sawfish and hammerhead sharks. This memoir about her journey to becoming a shark scientist will grab readers from the start. She describes the many obstacles she faced as a Black woman trying to make it in a profession dominated by men. Navigating the confines of traditional academia proved to be rough waters for her too, so she took a different route to becoming the award-winning scientist and independent researcher she is today. Graham, along with three other Black women, cofounded Minorities in Shark Sciences (MISS), which has a mission to support and to provide opportunities to other Black women in the field. Her book is about the sharks too. Written in a way that educates and gently informs, it shows readers why they should care about the possible extinction of various species of sharks. Graham asserts that while sharks are predators, the ecosystem needsthem. VERDICT Readers certainly do not need to be scientists to enjoy this exceptional, well-written book, but it's an excellent title for people, especially women and people of color, who are considering a career in marine science. This heartfelt story offers insight into both the stresses and excitement that await them.--Amy Lewontin
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A shark researcher discusses the challenges she has faced as a Black woman in a "toxic, white, male-dominated" profession. Graham credits her angler father with instilling in her a love of the sea. As he taught her to fish, he reminded her to always "appreciate the ocean for the life and sustenance it brings us." At the College of Charleston, the author majored in marine biology, a discipline that introduced her to the animals who became her research passion: sharks. The more she studied them, the more she realized that sharks, like people, were "feared, misunderstood, and brutal-ized, often without recourse; assumed to be threatening when so often we're the ones under threat; [and] portrayed unfairly in the media." After college, Graham earned a graduate research fellowship to Florida State, where she became involved in fieldwork on the critically endangered sawfish. At one point deep into her research, Graham, who had already been "fighting for space" and respect as a Black woman in the marine biology field, was forced by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to turn over sawfish data she had been collecting to a white male marine biologist. Burned out, traumatized, and on the verge of giving up, she came into contact with other women marine scientists who helped her move out of academia and into nonprofit research. Among these women, two of whom were also Black, Graham was able to recover and help co-found Minorities in Shark Science, which provides "support for gender minorities of color in the field of shark biology and ecology in order to foster greater diversity in marine science." Readers of this book will no doubt find Graham's outspokenness and activist approach to creating opportunities for marginalized shark and marine researchers both inspiring and refreshing. A fine celebration of determination in the face of significant professional obstacles. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
