A pregnant manatee badly injured by a boat in shallow water is taken to an aquarium where she is treated and begins to heal. “But her world, once boundless, had shrunk to the size of a tank.” Jim Arnosky’s straightforward yet moving account of the manatee’s gradual recovery, the birth of her calf, and their eventual release back into the wild highlights the plight of this gentle creature whose greatest danger is humans who don’t take care when boating in waters where manatees live and swim. An author’s note following this fictional story based on actual events provides additional information about manatees. Full-page paintings and small spot illustrations of the manatee’s natural habitat accompany the narrative. (Ages 5–8)