About The Book

What better, more imaginative, gift could children receive than a ‘dead’ shiner fish from the underwater kingdom of High Voltage who takes them on the adventure of their life?

This magical tale was inspired by stories shared with his daughter, passing through an eerie tropical forest and over a rickety drawbridge, on 1,200+ daily one-mile walks to school!  These stories became a rich tradition for all who have taken part in the “Dead Fred” adventure - they will also undoubtedly become yours!

Ppeekk (pronounced ‘Peekie’) Rose Berry is the thirteen year-old heroine in McKinney’s epic odyssey.  Forced to walk to her first day of school after moving from rural Indiana to sunny Florida, she has a chance encounter with a mysterious little man who leads her to find King Frederick the 9th, a flattened, 3-inch, dead shiner fish who co mes to life in her hands. 

Aptly naming him “Dead Fred,” she is soon introduced to his brilliant underwater kingdom of High Voltage – a place where manatees talk and practical-joking clownfish encourage children to launch their lunchboxes off the bridge!

Ppeekk learns that Dead Fred has been dethroned by Megalodon, a fiendish 50-foot prehistoric shark that uses his entourage of vicious crabs and blood-red remora fish to threaten and extract the imagination and joy of children everywhere – and bring the kingdom of High Voltage to an abrupt end.

Ppeekk and her friends combine their resources to lure Megalodon and his rogue army into the fight of their lives in a heart-pounding adventure that takes place in the middle of a fierce and deadly Category 5 hurricane.