Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt Has All My Stars

 

Remarkably Bright Creatures

by Shelby Van Pelt

Published by Ecco, May 3, 2022

Genre: Modern Literature

Format: I audiobooked this one via purchased Audible

Inspired by Sy Montgomery

Come down a rabbit hole with me, will you? Sy Montgomery writes incredible nonfiction about animals. Born in the 1950s, she opted to study journalism after growing up in a time when "What I Want to Be When I Grow Up" activities were split down the middle with the girl side including "teacher" and "homemaker." Having the courage to explore in a direction contrary to the expectations of her context, Sy pursued science. Sy loved animals and has since spent her life studying creatures like pink dolphins, tigers, gorillas, and octopi. Here's Sy's account of her adventurous life. How to Be a Good Creature ties Sy's life to the animals she studies, a memoir not a traditional children's picture book. The Soul of an Octopus explores the amazing octopus.

Did you know octopi can taste with their skin? They're invertebrates who occupy 70% of the planet (oceans), yet they're completely alien to humans. This book might just blow your mind. Enter Shelby Van Pelt. 

The Octopus Thinks Humans are Idiots

After reading Soul of An Octopus, Shelby Van Pelt endeavored to write a mystery solved by an octopus. Yes, that's right. Marcellus is a sassy octopus living in an aquarium near the Puget Sound in Washington. Tova, the Swedish woman who cleans the aquarium, develops a friendship with Marcellus after rescuing him from the aquarium floor.

Van Pelt alternates narrators, so the voice of Marcellus shines, Marcellus who sneaks out some nights to snack on sea creatures in other tanks and who recognizes aquarium guests and exists in a beaked and tentacled body with a remarkably bright intellect. Tova, who lost her son years ago in a mysterious accident, finds solace and eventually answers through her friendships at the aquarium.