The Feeder Fish follows Jim, who has the misfortune of being born a Feeder Fish with only one thing to look forward to: being a happy meal for something carnivorous and unhappy. All Jim knows is fluorescent lights, fish flakes, and glass walls, until a fish named Barry jumps into his fish tank and explains everything. His fate seems sealed when a carnival comes to town and changes Jim's destiny, finding him the forever home he has always longed for. But all that is about to change when Mona plops into his life and turns Jim's fishbowl upside down. His once peaceful life becomes a memory when he soon finds himself treading water in a world as big as an ocean. There he discovers not only BFFs (Best Fish Forever), but adventures filled with creatures he never dreamed existed.

J. P. Sheridan explains, "It all began when my daughter brought home a goldfish she had won at the fair, having tossed a Ping-Pong ball into a small fishbowl. I wasn't very optimistic about Jim's future, since he was a bit on the scrawny side, but he surprised us, growing into a beautiful goldfish. During Jim's time with us, I often wondered about his past and if the other goldfish at the fair ended up as lucky." The author was born in the Bronx, grew up in Washington Heights, and graduated from Lehman College, City University of New York.