Jasmine Borschberg
HOW TO SPEAK OCTOPUS
for ages 8 - 13
When Solomon, an African Grey parrot with a talent for stealing French fries and speaking five languages—six if you count swearing—is blown off course during a storm and lands, quite accidentally, on a cruise ship, he never expects to end up in the Canary Islands, in a little harbor town where everyone knows his name and there are no canaries.
Over the years, Solomon becomes the town’s unofficial mayor: greeting tourists, charming children, and ruling Carlos’s café from the best chair in the house. He belongs to no one—and somehow, to everyone.
But despite all the fries, all the attention, and all the languages he collects, Solomon still wants one thing he cannot seem to find: a real friend.
Then one evening, strange eyes appear beneath the old dock.
They belong to Minerva—an octopus who says nothing, steals spoons, and may be the most mysterious creature Solomon has ever met.
She doesn’t speak. At least, not in words.
When Solomon notices a mother and son using ASL, he is certain he has discovered the answer: Animal Sign Language. And when a book of sign-language diagrams is accidentally left behind at Carlos’s café, Solomon knows exactly what to do.
He will teach Minerva to speak.
Or at least, he will try.
Warm, funny, and full of heart, How to Speak Octopus is a story about friendship, belonging, and finding home in the most unexpected places.
