Sea-Fari Deep - Hardcover

Woodman, Nancy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0792273400 ISBN 13: 9780792273400

Publisher: National Geographic Kids, 1998

In a story based on the Jason Project, young Dusty joins a scientific expedition to explore the depths of the Sea of Cortez off Baja, Mexico and records what she sees so other kids can share the experience. 20,000 first printing.

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From Kirkus Reviews:

The Jason Project is familiar to many Internet surfers, who have watched and even interacted with scientists off the coast of Baja California, in Mexico, as they dive to the ocean floor to explore deep sea vents, and the creatures which form near them, including the astounding bacteria that use chemical energy to make sugar. Dusty, in a breathless, first-person narration (`` `Wow!' I gasped, `Awesome!' ''), explores the bottom of the sea with the crew of the Jason Project. Students use cameras aboard the deep-diving mini-submarine, Turtle, and even operate an undersea robot, Jason. The adventure is splendid, with detailed diagrams and fascinating information; the narration is often banal: `` `It sounds like an ecosystem that's really different from the one we live in,' I thought out loud.'' In fact, the framing of questions and facts in dialogue (`` `Vronique, we learned in school that water turns into a gas when it boils at 212F (100C). Why is the 572F water coming out of the smoker still liquid?' I asked'') is overly tricky and renders the text difficult to follow. The layout combines text, pastels, watercolors, full-color photographs, and a border; if such a busy, cluttered format occasionally obscures the text for younger readers, it may attract MTV-age readers accustomed to the frantic pace of web pages. (maps, glossary) (Picture book. 10-14) -- Copyright �1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 3-5-Veteran riders of the Magic School Bus will feel right at home on this kaleidoscopic expedition to the thermal vents nearly 7000 feet below the surface of the Sea of Cortez. Woodman records an actual visit through the eyes of a fictional young alter ego. Invited aboard the Turtle, a small submersible used by Robert Ballard's JASON Project, Dusty fills in background about the nature and formation of deep-sea vents, then reports on the jellyfish, tubeworms, and other creatures (strangely, and perhaps uniquely, there are no plants in these communities) that cluster around them. The author uses scientific terms (e.g., "thermophilic," "chemosynthesis") with easy familiarity in specific but unintimidating discourses on geophysics, chemistry, and biology. The text is illustrated with digitally assembled collages of small photos, maps, diagrams, hand-lettered side essays, and thickly brushed cartoons in bright colors. The pictures have the higgledy-piggledy look of scrapbook pages, but much of the verbal and visual information is presented in a systematic, well-organized way that, aside from its intrinsic interest, is lit up by the narrator's enthusiasm and strong responses to her experiences.
John Peters, New York Public Library
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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