'It’s the first day of a new school year for Stella Bunt, and everything is changing. New rules, new teacher, new responsibilities. Stella and the rest of Year 10 Biology have a new class pet, Squish the octopus. Stella can’t explain why, but there’s just something about Squish that doesn’t feel right. But when Squish goes missing and a terrifying new kid arrives at school the very next day, Stella suspects they might be connected in some way… and she and the whole school could be in danger if she doesn’t find out how. To make things worse, this new kid has his eyes on Stella everywhere she goes. Can Stella warn her friends in time of a coming disaster? Or will everyone find out why some mysteries of the ocean and its creatures are better left mysteries? Steve Pirie‘s new magical realism work, 3 O’Clock, Flagpole jumps into the quadrangle and pulls apart classroom politics and safety, in a world where students must figure it out on their own all while learning fun facts about the ocean. -- Publisher.'
