Song for a Whale

by Lynne Kelly

Paperback, 2019

Status

Available

Collection

Publication

Yearling (2019), 304 pages

Description

Twelve-year-old Iris and her grandmother, both deaf, drive from Texas to Alaska armed with Iris's plan to help Blue-55, a whale unable to communicate with other whales.

User reviews

LibraryThing member Carolesrandomlife
I liked this book quite a lot. I don't read middle-grade books very often but I think that may be something that I really need to change. I was drawn to this book as soon as I saw it and while that may due in part to the gorgeous cover, it was mostly the premise of the story that grabbed my
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attention. Every time I picked up this book, I quickly was lost in Iris's world. I really had a great time with this book.

Iris is a twelve-year-old girl who happens to be deaf. She goes to a regular school where she is the only deaf person with the assistance of her sign language interpreter. It took about all of five minutes for my heart to go out to Iris as she explained what it was like to live in a world where nobody understands you. She has no friends at school and keeps being paired up with a classmate who claims to know sign language but whose hand motions make no sense to Iris at all. She feels very alone.

Iris's attention is grabbed by a whale that she learns about in school that sings at a different frequency than the other whales and therefore can't communicate with them. Iris is a whiz at repairing old radios outside of school and she uses that knowledge to help find a way to communicate with that special whale named Blue 55. Blue 55 lives alone in the ocean with no one to talk to and Iris can relate much better than most people.

I fell in love with Iris almost immediately. I think that the author did a fabulous job of letting the reader really understand how isolated she felt. Iris is a very intelligent and determined girl and I liked the way she worked through the puzzle of helping the whale. I really enjoyed taking this journey with Iris and was pleased to see the progression of her relationships with her family in addition to her quest to save the whale.

I would recommend this book to others. I think that this was a wonderfully written story about a little girl and a giant whale that I won't forget anytime soon. I look forward to reading more of Lynne Kelly's work in the future.

I received a review copy of this book from Delacorte Press.
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LibraryThing member roses7184
I've written, then deleted, at least four different versions of this review so far. Sometimes you pick up a story and it's so poignant, so important, that it's really hard to write anything resembling a coherent review. That's this book right here. Lynne Kelly has created something magical with
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Iris' story. It's not just the fact that she's a character who represents the Deaf community. It's not just the sweet way that she ties her passion for radios into communicating with someone who is just as lost as she is, in a sea of others. What makes this book special is how simply it shows how important connections are. To others, to yourself, to the world. I teared up while reading this book and, trust me, you're probably going to as well.

I wanted to give love, first and foremost, to Iris as a protagonist. You can absolutely tell that Kelly did her research, because Iris is precisely what readers from the Deaf community would be looking for in a character. Her inability to hear doesn't define her, but it does kind of set her apart in the world that she is attempting to navigate as a young person. She does a lot of growing from the start of the book, but my favorite part was watching her learn that she wasn't the only one who felt that way. I won't spoil, but there's a lot in this book about accepting others and, especially, appreciating their efforts to learn.

The scientific portion of this story, or the portion that had to do with the ever amazing Blue 55, was also beautifully executed. Learning about whale songs right alongside Iris made me smile. Kelly peppers in things like whale spout shapes, and fluke shapes, all the while making the learning feel like a normal part of the story. Plus, Iris' passion for all of this is infectious. I was rooting for her to communicate with Blue 55 right from the start, and you couldn't have pulled this book away from me if you tried.

I could gush on and on about the familial relationships in this book, or the way that it deals so perfectly with the loss of a loved one, but it would take many more paragraphs than you'd want to read. The fact of the matter is that this is both a gorgeous and important story. I thought the ending was a little bit out there but I had to remind myself that my middle grade self would have LOVED it. It's sweet, and Iris definitely deserved a happily ever after.

Read this! Put it into the hands of all the budding readers that you know. They're going to love Song For A Whale, and so are you.
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LibraryThing member Lisa2013
4-1/2 stars

In most ways I loved this book but I couldn’t quite give it 5 stars because of the point of view of the whale/other whales too. I couldn’t quite suspend disbelief and all the way through, once I hit page 76, I was eager to read the author’s notes at the end. While they were
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excellent, informative and interesting, I still couldn’t quite accept one aspect of the story, the fictional whale parts, even though I sort of adored that part of the story too. It’s just that the rest was such amazingly good realistic fiction and I found the unrealistic portions kind of jarring, however moving and fun.

The writing is lovely. The illustrations are lovely.

I loved the main character and story’s narrator, Iris. I also especially enjoyed her grandmother; I loved how she responded. What a hoot she was. This is a great granddaughter-grandmother relationship! I also enjoyed so many other characters too, including Bennie & Sura, Iris’s mother, father, and brother, Wendell and his family, and some of Iris’s teachers and classmates. The family and friend and school relationships were portrayed well.

This book has so much going for it. There is ample humor throughout and I thoroughly enjoyed it. But I felt sad a lot of the time I was reading it. The book is about communication and the lack of it, and about deep and cutting loneliness. I felt sad for the whale and then felt even sadder when I realized that Iris isn’t even as fluent in ASL and she could be, though I correctly knew what that was going. There are interesting inclusions about Deaf culture. There is a lot of suspense that was both entertaining and excruciating.

I love how Iris is skilled in electronics, radios and other devices too. I love the whales. I love the Alaska cruise portions – the only cruise I’ve taken as an adult was to Alaska in 1983 so it was fun to “be back there” with some common experiences.

I’m happy for Iris and I guess I’m supposed to feel happy for the whale too, but I felt only partial solace.

I did kind of love this book but it’s 4-1/2 not 5 stars for me, rounded down despite the author’s explanation. This would have probably been a favorite 5 star book for me at ages 9-12, and that’s the target audience for this book. I think what bothered me now might not have bothered me back then. The author’s notes at the end were wonderful and (in my opinion) needed inclusions. I’ve always loved whales and it pains me that I couldn’t quite accept portions of the story. As I read I wasn’t quite sure about how to take the whales’ voices, thoughts, feelings, and that kind of took me out of the story, just a bit. I couldn’t wait to read the author’s notes but I didn’t want spoilers so I waited until I’d finished the book. Perhaps I should have read everything in the back when I got to page 76 of the hardcover edition. I don’t think the story would have been spoiled for me but I didn’t know that. I wanted to know more about whales and how realistic/unrealistic things were, what was fantasy that either worked or not.

I did really, really like this book and I will definitely read other books by this author.
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LibraryThing member bookwren
I loved all the information in this book: about Deaf culture and about whales. I learned that many Deaf people are happy with their culture and don't feel deprived by not hearing. I learned that large baleen whales, such as humpbacks, play with dolphins. Bottle-nosed Dolphins have been seen sliding
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off Humpback Whale's broad noses, as described in the story. How cool is that!
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LibraryThing member lindamamak
A young deaf girl tries to help a deaf whale
LibraryThing member Salsabrarian
Iris is deaf and communicates with sign language. Her grandparents are also deaf and sign. Iris’ parents and brother are hearing, and sign with her although her father is less adept. Her best friend is Wendell, also deaf but who attends a deaf school. At her public school, Iris learns about Blue
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55, a blue whale that sings at a higher hertz level than other whales. This makes communication between him and other whales difficult. He has no family and swims the ocean alone. Iris connects immediately with Blue 55’s loneliness and feels strongly about finding a way to communicate to him. After corresponding with a whale scientist and working with the music teacher at school, Iris creates a recording at Blue’s hertz level. Her dream is to travel to the whale sanctuary in Alaska and play her song when 55 swims by. Her grandmother, still grieving since Grandpa’s death, will be the key to getting Iris to Blue 55. Iris’ sense of determination and can-do spirit pace this solid story. Despite setbacks, she finds ways to overcome or work around them. The only thing that didn’t ring true to me was her diving into the ocean to meet Blue 55. A moment of magical realism??
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LibraryThing member wichitafriendsschool
From fixing the class computer to repairing old radios, twelve-year-old Iris is a tech genius. But she's the only deaf person in her school, so people often treat her like she's not very smart. Except for one best friend and her grandmother, who is also deaf, Iris feels very alone. Then in science
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class, Iris learns about Blue 55, a real whale who is unable to speak to other whales. Iris understands how he must feel. Then she has an idea. Iris is so good with fixing radios, she knows she can invent a way to "sing" to Blue 55. But, she also has to travel 3,000 miles to play her song for him. So, Iris begins a journey ... across miles, supported by love, and growing in confidence.
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LibraryThing member lflareads
Iris has such a kind heart! Iris and her grandmother are deaf and their togetherness is so sweet throughout the novel. Iris uses her tech skills to find a way for a whale to communicate with others. She worries the whale is lonely without having others to communicate with in the waters. Will her
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idea work? Excellent middle grade read!
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LibraryThing member Jadedog13
Until last summer, I thought the only thing I had in common with that whale on the beach was a name.
- first sentence
Twelve-year-old Iris is a wiz with electronics. She loves fixing up antique radios and making them work again. She is the only deaf student in her school and feels like she is always
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separate from everyone else. Other students and some teachers tend to overlook her and think she isn't smart because she is deaf. When Iris learns about Blue 55, a whale who is unable to communicate with other whales because he sings a different song, she is determined to create a song for him so he won't feel so alone. She is single-minded and no matter what her parents say, she intends to go to Alaska to meet Blue 55.
Lynne Kelly is a sign-language interpreter and incorporates realistic elements of Deaf culture, including information about American Sign Language at the end of the book. It was surprising to me that Iris's dad didn't learn ASL so he could communicate with her. But the author explains that deaf children are often born to hearing parents who don't all learn ASL. So that issue between Iris and her dad is something many deaf children experience.
The characters in this book are well-developed, flaws and all, including Blue 55 who has his own chapters (told from his point of view). Anyone who feels isolated or understands what it is like to be different will relate to this book and find a way to empathize with others.
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LibraryThing member ewyatt
Iris loves fixing radios. She doesn't love school - at least the parts where she feels lonely. She can communicate with her interpreter Mr. Charles, but that's about it. When she sees a video in science class about Blue55, a whale who communicates at a different frequency than other whales. She is
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inspired to help the whale and maybe herself in the process. After studying frequencies and thinking about music, she writes and mixes a song for the whale. Desperate to get Blue 55 to hear the song, Iris and her grandma (recently widowed) take off for an Alaskan cruise. Iris and her grandparents are deaf. Her mom and brother sign, her dad not as much. There is a lot of family dynamic here and a focus on Iris being able to find her path as she works to help Blue 55.
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LibraryThing member electrascaife
Although Iris is only 12 years old, she is a wiz at fixing up old radios. But as the only deaf student, she feels left out at school, and since her dad never really learned sign language, she doesn't feel completely in the loop at home either, even though her mom and brother did learn. Still
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mourning the death of her grandfather and feeling her grandmother's sorrow driving a wedge between her and her only other deaf relative, Iris seeks comfort in throwing herself into researching the existence of a unique whale, so unlike other whales that he cannot communicate with any of them through song. She becomes determined to find a way to fix Blue55's loneliness, mostly likely because she can't seem to fix her own.
This Schnieder Award winner from last year is okay, but there are a few things that, for me, keep it from being great. Iris didn't feel quite likeable enough for me to root for her as much as the story needs its reader to root for her. Also, the parallels between her story and the whale's (they're both outsiders and can't seem to find a family that will listen and understand them,...) are interesting ones, but the similarities between them don't need constant signposting. I got there pretty quickly on my own and I think middle grade readers will, too, and they really don't need *that* much help with it. There were also a few inconsistencies in the storyline (or maybe I was just not interested enough to remember any explanations that were somewhere given to sort things out?); for example, the biologists have trouble getting close enough to tag the whale so they can track his movements, but then Iris is somehow...tracking his movements through an app on her phone? Um, what? Anyway, sweet idea, but not super-well carried out, as it seems to me.
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LibraryThing member reader1009
children's diverse middlegrade fiction (Iris and her grandparents are Deaf; author is a sign language interpreter).
tender-hearted story about a girl who has no one to talk to at school connecting with a lonely whale who doesn't belong to a pod either. The story maybe is a little bit too long, but
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Iris is such a sweet, interesting person, one doesn't much mind spending the extra time with her.
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LibraryThing member Ldecher
A Whale of a Tale: what a fun and deep :) adventure! Iris has a lot going on! Her new school isn't working out well. Her grandpa passed away and her grandma is grieving so much that they can't talk they way they used to. (But things get happier!) When Iris finds out about a whale whose song is
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higher than all the "regular" whales, she has to do something to connect. After all, she was named for a whale! Iris has an interesting hobby: You might think it would be hard to re-build radios when you're deaf, but she's good at it. Her friend Wendell goes to a school for the deaf, so he has many more friends who can sign. His interesting hobby is space and he has a telescope that Iris gets to look through too. This book made me want to go to Alaska and see whales and dolphins with my friends!
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LibraryThing member sonyagreen
This book has a more rich and nuanced look as life as a Deaf person. The author is a sign language interpreter, which gives her more understanding than an author who just researches. Moreso, this isn’t just about a Deaf experience — it weaves in perspectives on being a kid with a knack and
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passion (in this case, radios engineering), when parents have a different cultural experience than their children, and the grief a grandparent might experience when their partner dies. All this, through the eyes of the protagonist kiddo. The beginning felt just a little bit sloggy, but that’s only because it established so many things that quickly became important to understand the story. This is one to not give up on the first chapter or two if you’re not into it.
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LibraryThing member bedda
This is about a whale, but it is more about the girl who is chasing the whale. Iris, being the only deaf girl in her school, feels like no one understands her. When she learns about a whale who seems to have the same problem, she immediately feels a kinship with him. The book follows her quest to
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let this whale know someone is listening to him. The quest was made harder because she speaks a different language than everyone else. The way she relates to the hearing world and how they relate to her was interesting to see. Expressions are different in sign language, her teacher was upset because a poem she wrote didn't rhyme but to her it did. So even though she had a translator communication was not always easy. I never thought of sign language that way before. I liked how Kelly used the whale's story to tell Iris's. You could feel Iris's frustration with not belonging and not being understood, even when those who loved her tried their best. It is a wonderful look at a girl learning how to make her own space in a world that doesn't seem to have a space for her. And the people that love her learning how to let her.
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LibraryThing member jennybeast
Great book! I particularly loved Iris' relationships with her Deaf grandparents and her way of signing poems with her grandfather. Altogether, the relationships were really well written across the board -- from the clueless and harmful classmate Nina, to her brother and best friend, to her
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sometimes rocky but very realistic communication with her parents. I also love the cruise ship as getaway -- hard to imagine a more effective means of removing oneself from regular contact while presenting a very safe way to do it. Mad props to Grandma for her heist abilities and her wandering nature. I also really loved Iris' interactions with sound, and her keen appreciation of radio repair. I really hope, in the end, that she gets her Philco back. The focus on Blue 55 and his song was such a thoughtful and high impact emotional bridge -- but I love that Tristan calls Iris out on figuring out why she needs so badly to connect to this whale. The book shows some really beautiful growth over the course of the story, and Iris figuring out what she needs to continue that growth is an incredibly strong thread.

I appreciated that Lynne Kelly is totally transparent in her connections with the Deaf community in the Author's note, and also about the readers she hired to hold her story to account.
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Awards

Sequoyah Book Award (Nominee — Children's — 2021)
Georgia Children's Book Award (Finalist — 2021)
Kentucky Bluegrass Award (Nominee — Grades 3-5 — 2021)
William Allen White Children's Book Award (Nominee — Grades 6-8 — 2022)
Iowa Teen Award (Nominee — 2022)
Mark Twain Readers Award (Nominee — 2022)
Bluestem Award (Nominee — 2023)
Sunshine State Young Reader's Award (Nominee — Grades 6-8 — 2021)
Oregon Reader's Choice Award (Nominee — 2022)
NCSLMA Battle of the Books (Middle School — 2022)
Virginia Readers' Choice (Nominee — Elementary — 2021)
Black-Eyed Susan Book Award (Nominee — Grades 4-6 — 2021)
Odyssey Award (Honor — 2020)
Volunteer State Book Award (Nominee — Middle School — 2021)
Maud Hart Lovelace Award (Nominee — 2023)
Schneider Family Book Award (Winner — Middle Grades — 2020)
Nerdy Book Award (Middle Grade Fiction — 2019)
Chicago Public Library Best of the Best: Kids (Fiction for Older Readers — 2019)

Language

Original language

English

Physical description

304 p.; 7.69 inches

ISBN

1524770264 / 9781524770266

Barcode

285

Pages

304
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