The Missing Manatee

By Cynthia Defelice

A boy finds a shot manatee, uncovering secrets beneath the surface.

3.8/5 Goodreads · 486 ratings

192 pages· 33,374 words· Est. 4.5 hour read

$18.99Save 5%

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Bookroo's summary

Skeet Waters dreams of catching a tarpon, but his world shifts when he overhears his parents' marriage unraveling. Escaping on his boat, he discovers a manatee shot dead. With the help of Dirty Dan, Skeet dives into a mystery that mirrors his own life’s turmoil. Can he solve the manatee's murder and navigate his family's crisis? In a tale where appearances deceive, Skeet learns to look beyond the surface.

From the publisher

A tribute to Florida, fishing, and family, Cynthia DeFelice’s The Missing Manatee is “Sure to hook readers.” - Booklist All Skeet Waters wants is to catch a big, beautiful tarpon on his fly rod - and to keep everything else in his life in Florida the way it’s always been. But on his spring break from school, Skeet overhears his mother telling his father to move out permanently. Then, while riding in his boat to escape his parents’ troubles, he discovers a manatee that’s been shot in the head. Skeet puts aside his search for the manatee and its killer when Dirty Dan the Tarpon Man offers to take him out to catch his first tarpon on a fly. Because of Dan, Skeet begins to unravel the mysteries surrounding the manatee’s apparent murder and his parents’ dissolving marriage. Skeet discovers that life is a lot like tarpon fishing, in which you can’t look just at the surface of the water - you have to look through it, at what lies beneath. The Missing Manatee was nominated for the Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Mystery.

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