Review of "The Adventures of Blue Ocean Bob: Into the Lead," by Brooks Olbrys

Review of

The Adventures of Blue Ocean Bob: Into the Lead,  by Brooks Olbrys ISBN 9780982961377

Five stars

 This is at least the second book about Blue Ocean Bob, a small boy living on an island in the Sea of Kerchoo and he has a big job. There is a great deal of friendly and sentient sea life in the area and Bob helps to protect it as well as keep the shoreline clean. He works for Mary Marine, so as the story opens Bob has a supervisor. As the book progresses through a series of crises, Bob takes on challenging tasks as well as assumes greater responsibility.

 The first crisis is triggered by an earthquake that creates a crack in the ocean floor that releases oil into the water. Although the task is very difficult, with the help of Mary and a whale named Tom, Bob is able to plug the leak and save the local environment.

 The second crisis is also due to the earthquake, where a wave has beached a great white shark. After an initial expression of inadequacy, Bob develops a plan where, with the help of his sea friends, they will be able to save the shark.

 In the third story, Marine Mary is called away to another island and Bob is selected as her temporary replacement. Now in charge, Bob works his way through three other problems and now appears to be the permanent replacement for Mary.

 While the stories illustrate a boy solving very complex problems, a fundamental component of all of them is Bob’s fears and insecurities. In each case Bob is able to understand and control his fear to the point where he is able to develop a novel solution to the problem at hand. This demonstrates to young readers that it is a very common initial reaction to a problem to express uncertainty about what to do. In each case Bob is able to solve the problem and avert the crisis. 

This book was made available for free for review purposes.