Willa and the Whale

by Chad Morris, Shelly Brown Narrated by Rachel L. Jacobs

Overview

When her mother dies, twelve-year-old Willa feels lost and alone-until she meets and befriends a humpback whale named Meg

While on a whale-watching excursion with her dad, Willa is alone on one side of the boat when she sees a humpback whale. Her awe and wonderment about this massive and beautiful creature turns to shock when the whale communicates with her, introducing herself as Meg.

As their friendship develops, Willa comes to view Meg as a trusted confidant-who offers her advice about difficult issues in Willa's life.

When a blue whale washes up on shore and dies, the townspeople jump into action with opinions about what to do with it. Willa enlists her friends, family, and the City Council to rescue the body of the whale and donate it to the local university where her mom taught for further study and to display the bones.

Feeling good about getting her community to band together in service of science and conservation, Willa returns to the shore to tell Meg about her amazing experience. But Meg tells Willa that it is time for her pod to migrate, and Willa learns that it's okay to say goodbye.

Willa and the Whale is a poignant story about caring, loss, and the deep connections that make us human.

Editorial Reviews

Booklist

"A moving story that presents raw grief and the hope born of healing in a sensitive, realistic manner."

Booklist

"A moving story that presents raw grief and the hope born of healing in a sensitive, realistic manner."

School Library Journal

★ 03/01/2020

Gr 5–8—A tale of grief, mourning, and the power of community to restore one's emotional balance after a tragedy. As Willa's parents navigate a divorce, her mother is offered a professional opportunity to move to Tokyo. Willa is forced to choose between Tupkuk Island and Japan. Sharing her mother's intense love of the ocean and all things related to her career in marine biology, Willa chooses to move and experience a new culture. When Willa's mother unexpectedly dies from a fatal heart condition, Willa finds herself alone and must return to the island. She quickly realizes everything has changed, from the distance she feels between herself and her former friend, Marc, to the intensity of her once calm home. Family life in her old house now consists of a stepmother with three noisy young stepsiblings and one half sibling. On a whale-watching trip with her father, Willa discovers she can talk to a whale named Meg. Over the course of the book, this magical encounter becomes an extended metaphor for the guidance she still needs from her mother, and a manifestation of an emotional goodbye that she is still negotiating. Each chapter opens with fascinating facts on unique marine life that create nonfiction entry points for research. Subplots surrounding Marc's family life, a competitive peer named Lizzy, a beached blue whale, and Willa's unfolding relationship with her father after a three-year absence easily move the plot forward. VERDICT Willa's character offers emotional insight into the layers of grief experienced by someone who loses a parent, and builds empathy in young readers. This must-purchase may challenge readers to keep a dry eye.—Monica Cabarcas, Albemarle High School, Charlottesville, VA

APRIL 2020 - AudioFile

Rachel Jacobs embodies young Willa in her thoughtful narration of this audiobook. Tragedy strikes, and Willa loses her mother. Even though she’s been separated from her father by divorce and an ocean, she heads back to Washington to live with him and his new family. Jacobs handles the voicing of Willa with sincerity, expressing her love of the ocean and the sadness it also brings with appropriate pacing and inflections. As Willa reestablishes herself in her new life, and even starts to feel content, a blue whale washes ashore on a stormy night. Jacobs doesn't miss a beat, disappearing into the story as Willa comes to terms with death. S.K.G. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

2019-11-24
In the wake of her mother's sudden death, Willa navigates a new course with her blended family and friends on an island off Washington state, with the help of a humpback whale.

After her parents divorced three years ago, Willa moved to Japan with her marine biologist mom. Now back on Tupkuk Island, Willa, 12, struggles to adapt to her dad, new stepmom, three younger stepsiblings, and new baby. When she's on a welcome-home, whale-watching cruise with her dad, a humpback breaches close by and speaks to her. Willa, an exceptionally well-informed marine enthusiast, is enchanted. When Willa calls her from the beach, Meg, a mature female who's birthed and nurtured offspring of her own, offers a sympathetic ear and valuable advice on reinstating her friendship with Marc, her former best friend, coping with an overbearing, competitive classmate, and managing the mortification of being among the slowest on the swim team. Most of all, Meg's there when Willa needs to pour out the grief that overwhelms her. Willa's journals and many marine references express her passion for the ocean while introducing fascinating, lesser-known wonders of the deep. Latinx Marc and his family excepted, the likable, rounded human characters are presumed white. Mysterious, amazing, threatened, but enduring, the ocean itself conveys the enormity of grief and possibility of healing; plausible, appealing Meg's especially engaging. As Willa says: "everyone should definitely have their own whale."

Moving and buoyant, an insightful tale of grief, loss, and resilience. (Fantasy. 8-12)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940177886749
Publisher:	Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication date:	03/03/2020
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	8 - 11 Years

Videos