A debut middle grade novel in the tradition of Black Beauty and The One and Only Ivan, in which a young orca who dreams of becoming the matriarch of her pod instead finds herself living a life in captivity.
Whale, a young orca, dreams of becoming the matriarch and storyteller of her own pod one day, just like her grandmother. But her dream becomes a nightmare when she is captured by the Two-Legs and taken to a sea pen far from her ocean home. At first, angry and scared, Whale can only think of escape and finding her way back to her family. But as the months wear on, and Whale becomes restless and lonely, she finds herself befriending her keeper, Red, named for his bright red fur. Whale starts to look forward to their daily feeding rituals and playtime as they learn to communicate. As time goes on, she even counts on Red’s singsong laughter to fill her day.
But just as Whale gets used to life with Red, she is ripped away from the sea pen she’s lived in for more than a year. She’s taken on a long, painful journey in a container to somewhere new—the suffocating waters of an aquarium. Whale is given a name—Ingrid—and along with whales who don’t speak her language, she is made to perform. The grueling work is hard on Whale’s body, but if she doesn’t perform, she doesn’t eat.
Whale’s only solace is the memories of her pod and her grandmother’s stories of Great Mother and how whales came to be. Whale longs for the promise of Whale Fall, where the Great Mother will at last reunite her with her family—her body becoming one with the ocean. But also she tries to find joy in the here and now and in the comfort of her adopted pod. And, before rest, there is still one unexpected dream that will come true for Whale.
A deeply moving story of family, determination, and hope as a majestic creature weathers the storms of a life in captivity.
A Bookshelf Treasure
"When I was a young reader, I would choose my books according to how they looked. I chose a book because it was a hardcover - it always made me feel older — or it was shiny in colour, bright with visual intrigue or thick with pages of promise. I rarely read the description on the back. I simply picked up the pretty book, pulled back the cover, and read from page one. This made reading a treasure hunt. It meant that I was always surprised by what I found. And, on occasion, I would discover a gem. A gem that I could not put down. A gem that had me hooked on every page and left me mulling over its contents for days. A gem that entertained me but also guided me, taught me, and left me better for having read it. Whale Fall, Elysia Rourke’s debut middle-school novel, is such a gem. Offered as an advanced readers' copy, it came to my attention quite by accident. Yet it held all the token signs of a book I would have chosen on any one of my bookshelf treasure hunts. Whale Fall’s moody cover features an orca on the move, making promises of adventure, drama and depth. And in that promise, Elysia Rourke entirely delivers. From the first page, we adventure alongside Whale, a young, sharp, inquisitive orca who loves her whale life with all of her whale pod. We play in her ocean world as she swims alongside Grandmother, plays with Brother and travels to the Scratching Place. We learn of her desire to become the matriarch and storyteller for her family. For a time, we experience the joys of her ocean life, first-hand, just as she does. That is, until the Two-legs arrive in the rusted fish and abruptly snatch Whale from her beloved ocean family, throwing us, without warning, into the dark chapters of her story. Scared, angry and confused, Whale begins a new life in the foreign, isolated tanks of captivity where she is exploited, abused and manipulated into a shadow of herself. This is where we, as her reader friends, stand witness to the horror and reality of whale captivity. This is where we are forced to look closely at our own behaviour and question it. Challenge it. Change it so that we can do and be better. Does Whale survive captivity? Does she ever see her family again? Does she become the matriarch and storyteller she always dreamed of becoming? To know, you have to read. And I promise you, just as the cover of this book promised me — just as Elysia Rourke delivered on every single page of Whale Fall — a heart-pounding, page-turning, provocative read. A compassionate, raw, tender and painfully truthful story about an Orca’s life in captivity, Whale Fall is a treasure sure to champion your must-read-again bookshelf for years to come."
