Review by Ian Keogh

Considering Sashimi is a fishboy it’s appropriate that Dan Santat introduced him in A Fishboy Named Sashimi, where he masquerades as a pupil in Barnacle Bay. He’s searching for the Beast of Barnacle Bay, which may or may not be real, and has befriended Joey, whose grandfather is also keen on tracking down the Beast.

The first volume was funny, introduced the residents of Barnacle Bay and delved into a little town history, but the Field Trip of Doom is Santat unleashing his inner child. He packs the pages with fart jokes, comes up with the snappy replies he wishes he’d been smart enough to give teachers when younger and manages to have a dig at the kids from the posh school as well.

As seen on the sample art, Sashimi is being a smartmouth on the school trip, so he’s sent back to the bus, but those big school buses all look the same, don’t they? That’s the start of his terror trip to the woods, while Joey and newly introduced schoolmates Chloe and Marco form a three person search party.

Santat draws most of Field Trip of Doom in his now familiar basic cartoon style, but there’s a surprise midway through when there’s a brief switch to 3-D felting versions to illustrate a dream sequence. It’s a wonderfully silly interval conveying Sashimi’s state of mind, and Santat even shows you how to make your own Sashimi at the back of the book.

It’s only Joey who knows Sashimi’s really a fish boy, and the problem with him being lost is the community spirit prompted. It’s nice to think a lot of really motivated people would form a search party, but the danger for Sashimi is his rescuers might realise he’s not a normal schoolkid after all. Santat uses that for a great comedy chase sequence through the mall, but of course all is well in the end.

A Fishboy Named Sashimi was good, but Field Trip of Doom is better.