Odder

 Odder By Katherine Applegate

 

1. Bibliography 

 Applegate, K. (2022). Odder. ILL. By Charles Santoso. Feiwel & Friends. ISBN:9781250147424 

2. Plot Summary 

This is the story is about a playful otter named Odder. Odder is swimming with a friend, Kaira. Against Kaira’s better judgment, they venture far into the ocean deep. Suddenly, a very young hungry shark attacks Odder’s friend, Odder tries to distract the young shark and the result is Odder receives a bite from the shark. Odder floats to shore where she is rescued by humans from a nearby aquarium. This is Odder’s second time to be rescued. The reader finds out Odder was rescued as a little pup and orphaned. It is determined that Odder will not be able to go back out to the ocean, so the human trainers are trying to encourage Odder to foster an orphan otter. Odder refuses at first but then finds her friend Kiara is also at the aquarium and is also fostering a baby otter and Kiara gives Odder the words that she needs to hear which is to teach the pup how to play. Odder does. 

3. Critical Analysis 

Author Katherine Applegate book Odder is a novel in verse book. Just like in a novel, the reader rides the rollercoaster of the plot of the story. Applegate has written this book in 3 parts. Part 1, Applegate quickly takes the reader from the introduction of characters and setting to the problems in the story. The first problem is a young great white shark. Applegate’s choice of words, allow the reader to feel from the point of view of the shark, this young shark is hungry and realizes quickly after attacking Odder and her friend Kiara that he has made a mistake, "Instantly the shark knows this is wrong, all wrong.” This attack has put Odder on a beach, where she is rescued by humans from the “Highland.” Applegate then begins Part 2 of her story where it is 3 years earlier. This is where the reader begins to understand the character of Odder and finds out that she was an orphan who had been rescued before. Odder is playful, independent, and brave. The author also adds in a foreshadowing element. Odder’s mother has a dream about a newborn pup. “Odder was there, though- full-grown, in fact- and while she wasn’t a mother or a sister or an aunt, she was somehow important to the little pup.” This verse in this poem represents who Odder is to become but the reader does not know this, yet. Part 3 is where Applegate begins the resolution of the story by putting all the pieces together. The reader understands the character of Odder a little better and we find out what happens to Kiara because she is who leads Odder into fulfilling the foreshadowing of the dream that Odder’s mother had in Part 2. Applegate did a beautiful job of letting the reader swim alongside Odder and witnessing how she overcomes and survives. 

4. Review Excerpts 

• Booklist starred (August 2022 (Vol. 118, No. 22)) A stunning study of a remarkable and resilient sea creature. 

• Publishers Weekly starred (August 1, 2022) Writing in exquisitely descriptive free verse, Applegate (Willodeen) delivers an uplifting tale of an inquisitive sea otter pup raised by scientists after being separated from her mother. 

• School Library Journal (October 1, 2022) The dark yet humorous tone of the free verse paints a very human set of motivations for risk-taking and living life on one's own terms. 

5. Connections: 

• Research Monterey Bay Aquarium. Explore the website and watch a live cam. Write about what you observed. 

• Reread pg. 101 Newborn then reread pg. 254-256 Whispers. What do you notice about the two poems? 

• Discuss with a partner how the character of Odder changed from the beginning of the story till the end?