Eileen O’Hely is a science communicator who has published a variety of children’s books since the release of her first junior fiction title, Penny the Pencil, in 2005. More recently, after a conversation with her publisher at a party, O’Hely wrote 50 Ways to Die in Space, and Nico O’Sullivan – who was then only in Year 12 – was chosen to illustrate it. That book came out in 2025 and was a huge hit in our household!
50 Ways to Die in the Ocean is O’Hely and O’Sullivan’s follow-up, featuring the same two main characters (a rotund chipper one and a top-hatted pessimistic one – they are never named) having a lengthy argument at the beach during which the reader learns (surprise surprise) about fifty ways to die in the ocean. These unpleasant life-ending scenarios range from shark and jellyfish attack to death by pirate, tsunami, submarine implosion and underwater volcano. In the end, the characters decide that heading away from the beach to have fish and chips for lunch is a far safer option than going for a swim!
This is a non-fiction graphic novel with simple black-and-white illustrations and approximately 120 pages. Unlike many graphic novels, the text in the speech bubbles uses proper sentence case – except of course when our pessimistic protagonist is shouting some variation of ‘YOU WILL DIE’ (which my 10-year-old delights in likewise roaring with the appropriate inflection). Also, one character’s dialogue is black text on a white background while the other’s is white text on a black background. These design choices make this an easy and accessible read for children (or adults who read graphic novels infrequently), with less visual overwhelm than many busy full-colour graphic novels.
As with the first 50 Ways book, this is a must-have for primary and high school libraries and a great pick for home libraries too. It will be especially popular with kids who love both science and dark humour. In the few weeks since our copy arrived, my boys (10 and 13) have each read it several times, and the excellent vocabulary led to my 10-year-old piping up with questions like ‘What does corrosive mean?’ We hope there’ll be another 50 Ways book in the future and would like to suggest the desert as a possible setting!
