The Truth About Sharks Summary By Joan Bauer

Famous poet Robert Frost once expressed “Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself.” It can be hard at times to not become a victim of intimidation. In Joan Bauer’s short story “The Truth About Sharks,” one character has been bullied into silence, but as the story progresses she learns to overcome this problem. The courage of this character separates her from the rest. A teenage girl named Beth is having a bad week. She is being forced to go to her uncle Al’s birthday party. Before the party, Beth needed to buy a new pair of pants, so she went to a huge 5 story store called Mitchell Gails. At the store, she was helped by a worker named Hannah.

She goes into the changing room and tries on a pair of pants. She wore the pants out of the changing room and said to Hannah, “I will take these, I just want to keep looking.” The security guard saw Beth wearing the pants out of the dressing room, and assumed the worst. Unfortunately the security guard doesn’t realize that Beth isn’t done shopping. The female guard forcefully grabbed Beth and took her to a secure room. She yelled at Beth and told her to her to take the pants off in her presence. When Beth refuses, the cops are called. A policeman came and took Beth away. On the ride to the station, young Beth worked up the courage to ask the cop if she can have a chance to prove her innocence. The officer turned the car around and headed back to the store. Hannah told the real story of what actually happened. The officer even discovered that Beth had left all of her stuff in the changing room. The kind and fair policeman let Beth go. On the ride home, Beth realized how unjustly she was treated in the store. She decided to go back to have a word with the manager. Beth threatened to call her lawyer if she didn’t get an apology. Ultimately, Beth received both an apology and a $650 gift card. The

She learns to stands up for herself and defend herself in numerous situations. Beth demonstrates that she is courageous, when she works up the courage to go back to the store, to confront the security guard. When Beth arrives back at the store, the saleswoman denies Beth access to see the manager. Beth says, “No maame, you see I was falsely arrested in this store in this store by Madge P. Groton, security witch, and in exactly two seconds I am going to call a very large lawyer.” In this particular scene, Beth is demanding and she wasn’t going to take no for an answer. When he says no, she threatens to call a lawyer. This is a sign that Beth is more confident. In this scene, Beth received an apology from the manger and the security guard. She also received a $650 gift certificate for her trouble. A second situation that proved that Beth was a confident, courageous, teenager was when she talked to Uncle Al. The text states, “I even pulled Uncle Al aside and told him that the joke he told before diner offended me and all the women through the ages,” and he apologized. It took courage to talk to uncle Al. In addition, she stood up for herself. Now Beth is a mature, courageous,