Shish . . .: The Brave Little Starfish

By Xlibris US

Shish, the brave little starfish lives at Cashes Ledge, a magnificent underwater mountain range in the Gulf of Maine. On the night of a blue moon, the Great Storm arrives and drives Shish into the angry sea. Ozzy, a friendly humpback whale delivers her to safety in an old sunken ship where Shish lives her days alone and injured from a terrible accident. Shish is a long way from home.

Shish finally returns to Cashes Ledge where she and her friends must confront the Carboxy Brothers, an evil duo that threaten Shishs world. If the Carboxy Brothers cannot be stop, the Earths oceans are doomed. Only the humans have the power to stop them. Shish and her companions want to help.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 26, 2014
• ISBN: 9781503516984

Book preview

SHISH…

The Brave Little Starfish

Written and Illustrated by

Betsy McDermott Fecto

Edited by

Laurie E. Notch

Copyright © 2014 by Betsy McDermott Fecto. 612116

ISBN:   Softcover       978-1-5035-1697-7

             EBook           978-1-5035-1698-4

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Rev. date: 11/26/2014

Xlibris

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1   The Magnificent Cashes Ledge

Chapter 2   The Great Storm

Chapter 3   What is wrong with the Ocean?

Chapter 4   How YOU Can Help Save the Ocean!

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Words cannot express my gratitude to the family and friends who helped make Shish, The Brave Little Starfish possible. I want to thank my daughter, Sarah, for providing me with much needed encouragement and an occasional kick in the butt. I want to thank Liz Mason for listening to endless possibilities and Stacey Oliver for wanting me to see it through until the end. A special thanks to Kaitlin Marie McDermott for keeping the faith and for Hanaa Vina McDermott, for her personal restraint. To Wayne, for believing in me!

Many thanks to Laurie E. Notch, my friend and editor, for dotting my i’s, crossing my t’s and trying to explain something called syntax. Thank you, Emily Figdor at Environment Maine for sharing tidbits about the arrival of sea horses in the Gulf of Maine. Thank you, Dr. Mark Green, Professor of Environmental Science at St. Joseph’s College, in Standish, Maine, for offering clarity in understanding ocean acidification and the plight of the ocean’s bivalves. To Robin Just, at the Boston office of the Conservation Law Foundation for helping me see the uniqueness of Cashes Ledge and leading me to the work of author and marine life photographer, Brian Skerry. Brian, you are right. I will never look at the ocean the same again.

Thank you to the friendly folks at Cybercopy in Portland who made my job a lot easier. And last, but not least, to XLibris Publishers for always being there and guiding me through the process of writing and illustrating Shish, The Brave Little Starfish. Special thanks to Kim Oliver for her patience, countless emails and phone calls.

DEDICATION

To my beautiful granddaughter,

Autumn.. a little something special for a little special someone

CHAPTER ONE

The Magnificent Cashes Ledge

Shish is a brave little starfish that lives in the Gulf of Maine. The Gulf of Maine is part of the North Atlantic Ocean. Within the Gulf, there is a magical place called Cashes Ledge.