Friends in Deed: Save the Manatee (Eaglewood) [Hardcover]

Alison Friesinger (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up | Series: Eaglewood

Instead of working on their animal reports for their third-grade class at Eaglewood Elementary, Jelly, Eva, and Mary Kate are working on their own special project: They've banded together to do good deeds. Grownups are always telling them they're irresponsible - well, the Eaglewood 3 will show them! But while none of their efforts actually hurts anyone, they don't really seem to be helping anyone, either. Then their fun-loving librarian, Mrs. Sanders, tells them about an injured manatee at the local aquarium in need of adoption. Could this be the perfect topic for their animal reports?  

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Instead of working on their animal reports for their third-grade class at Eaglewood Elementary, Jelly, Eva, and Mary Kate are working on their own special project: They've banded together to do good deeds. Grownups are always telling them they're irresponsible - well, the Eaglewood 3 will show them! But while none of their efforts actually hurts anyone, they don't really seem to be helping anyone, either. Then their fun-loving librarian, Mrs. Sanders, tells them about an injured manatee at the local aquarium in need of adoption. Could this be the perfect topic for their animal reports?  

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 72 pages
• Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers (May 19, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679990402
• ISBN-13: 978-0679990406
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,040,582 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than the bible., January 13, 2010

By 

Metaphor M. Metaphor "- M. Metaphor" (Brooklyn) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Friends in Deed: Save the Manatee (A Stepping Stone Book(TM)) (Paperback)

This book is the greatest thing human kind has ever produced or achieved. Landing on the moon is pathetic compared to the immense work of fiction that is "Save the Manatee." Now, I may be older than the suggested reading age, but whoever decided this book is best suited for ages 4-8 is clearly a philistine. The 5-10 minutes it took me to finish this book were the best few minutes of my life (even better than the 10 minutes I spent with that really attractive girl from the gym who must have forgotten my number because she never called.)

Anyway, let's get into it, shall we?

First, lets talk about Alison Friesinger. This woman must be the child of Virgina Wolf and Superman. She has such a vast understanding of the English language that the words flow from this novel like salmon flow down the great rivers of south dakota. Now, there may only be 74 words in the entire book, but each one of them is hand picked from TENS of possible words (seriously, do you know how many words are in the English language? It's at least three hundred). Each sentence packs the same emotional punch as reading the Bible, seeing a baby kitten die, and watching "The Titanic", all at the same time.

Now the plot is nothing short of brilliant. At its most basic, the novel is about self discovery. Three children from Englewood Elementary (the "eagle" is clearly a metaphor) named Jelly, Eva, and Mary Kate set out to save a manatee. There are so many metaphors in this book that I can't list them all because you would literally not be able to handle all the deep metaphors that are in the metaphorical book. There is a fun loving librarian (clearly a realistic character that many can relate to) who helps the characters find their way. To simpletons this is a child's story. But because I hang out in Brooklyn, wear plaid and have an education, this book is so much more to me. This is a story of self discovery, not unlike the one I go through every second.

Jelly is aptly named. Not only does she love the food product used with bread, but her personality is very gelatinous (not a coincidence!) and she is often taken advantage of by the people around her. She can't seem to find her way, and seems lost in the supermarket of self loathing. Hopefully a trustworthy manatee can help get her out of the supermarket of self loathing and to the fresh direct of self esteem!

Eva sucks. I don't want to talk about Eva.

Mary Kate is clearly an homage to the famous movie star Mary Kate Olsen. Not unlike the real life Mary Kate, the fictitious one has issues of her own. Except instead of real life issues like drugs and sex and having a lot of money, Mary Kate's issue is being too aggressive. She often abuses Jelly and Eva (but everyone hates Eva anyway so who cares?) Mary Kate is clearly drinking from the fountain of anger. Hopefully a peaceful manatee can help her stop drinking from the fountain of anger and get her to start drinking from the flask of calm!

In the end, the Manatee is the true hero. Through his impassioned speeches and unintelligible noises that are skillfully left up to the reader to fully interpret, the manatee is able to save all the kids even though the kids think they are trying to save the manatee (look at that metaphor!). Jelly and Mary Kate come out new and amazing people. Eva dies.