★★★★★ 5
Fun aquatic comic romp!
Format: Hardcover
Strange things are happening in Barnacle Bay! When Sashimi comes to shore, grabs a hoodie, and joins Miss Wilcox's classroom, the students ask a lot of questions, but don't get a lot of answers. Joey is assigned to show Shashimi around, but since he is new himself and a target of Billy's bullying, he's reluctant to be seen with a bug eyed student who sweats a lot. This, of course, is how Sashimi, who is really a fish boy, breathes. While he's living in the school and talking to Kevin, the class goldfish, he feels like he should investigate the Beast of Barnacle Bay, since there is a huge festival surrounding the creature. He has a bad experience at a grocery store with some high octane sugar soda and is kicked out after he goes nuts; Billy is there and takes him home to meet his grandfather. Poopdeck Pete is obsessed with the Beast, and gives tours of the bay. Sashimi tells Joey the truth after an incident where Sashimi tries to flush himself down the toilet: he is a fish boy and was chased ashore by Joey's grandfather, and has been living in the school. After meeting with Ben at the local history museum, Sashimi decides to enter the contest to catch the Beast, since there's a $10,000 prize. There is all kinds of drama in the community's participation in this, but in the end, Sashimi donates one of his own scales to the museum, and is rewarded with $500. He donates this money to the school, where budget cuts have been rife, and settles into life in Barnacle Bay. Poopdeck Pete's boat tours experience a resurgence with the interest in the creature, so Joey is happy as well. More adventures, perhaps ones including the very suspiciously damp Ben, are heading to shore.
Santat's illustrations are always a delight, and he brings Sashimi to life in an engaging way. There's even an informational diagram of how Sashimi breathes; of course, there are extra laughs since he is depicted in tighty whities! The use of the hood to hide his more defining aquatic features is inspired, since young readers these days live in hoodies, often (to my chagrin) with the hoods up. Santat must have a deep and abiding interest in the sea, since his 2022 Aquanaut also involves ocean life living on land. Sashimi is much happier and less traumatic than that graphic novel!
Sashimi gets himself involved in many ridiculous situations, which makes this a perfect book for older readers (who pretend to be too sophisticated for jokes about Poopdeck Pete) to read to younger ones. Sashimi gets revenge on Billy in a spitball fight, he has a massive sugar buzz and subsequent crash, and we get snarky but informative inserts about what a poop deck is named that and how Sashimi is able to live on land. The illustration style is colorful and unique, and will appeal to older readers who have been raised on Santat's picture books like Are We There Yet, Beekle, and After the Fall.
Dav Pilkey gets a shout-out in the dedication, which makes perfect sense, since readers of Captain Underpants and Dogman will be thrilled with Sashimi's odd adventures. Santat worked with Tom Angleberger on Princess Pit Stop, and must have absorbed some of Angleberger's Two-Headed Chicken Energy. I'm looking forward to the further adventures of this intrepid fish boy, and hope that he and Joey are able to calm Billy down quite a bit and can continue to support their struggling school.
The box that the publisher sent with the ARC was delightful, and contained a helpful water bottle (so Sashimi can keep breathing), a sticker, poster, and small container of "fish flakes" that I have on good authority actually contains Swedish fish candy!
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Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2026
