A little girl adopts a baby seal and raises it as part of her family. Toni is a girl who doesn't make friends easily until one day she meets her best friend in the form of Andre, an orphaned baby seal that she takes in with the help of her family. Toni and Andre form a special friendship, raising the cub from a baby, she teaches him silly tricks. Her family loves Andre as well, and he grows up to become a precocious seal, who acts like a person and sometimes like the family dog. Toni takes him to show and tell much to the amusement of her classmates. They try to assimilate him to living more like a sea lion, with Toni's dad coaxing him to spend more time in the coast.
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Toni's family receive media attention, and Andre becomes a local celebrity. Billy Baker, the town troublemaker becomes jealous of them, mostly because of his rivalry with Toni's dad who is also the town harbormaster. He stirs trouble by reporting Andre to the Bureau of Marine Wildlife and Fisheries, to have the animal taken away. When that doesn't work, he threatens Andre's life while in a drunken rage. Mark's son is troubled with the whole situation, so he kidnaps Andre and Toni's sister Paula out into the water, with the intention of shooting Andre. Andre escapes, but Toni bent on finding Andre, goes on a small boat to look for him. She gets caught in a storm but is saved by Andre who reunites her with her dad.
Andre is then given up by Toni's dad to the Boston Aquarium, for his safety. Toni narrates that as she grew older, Andre spent winters in Boston, and summers out in the wild. Every springtime, he would swim and visit her family in their Maine coastal town to come home.
Best part of story, including ending:
I love how Toni takes care of Andre and how she really sees him as her best friend. When you think about it, Andre is more sociable than a pet dog, so you can understand why Toni is so in love with him.
Best scene in story:
The montage of Toni being there every step of the way of caring for Andre since his baby months to his adulthood.
Opinion about the main character:
I like Toni's loyalty to her friend, and how she will protect Andre at all costs.
