Whale Fall

De: Elysia Rourke

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 through the years of her tank life are the memories of her pod and her grandmother’s stories of Great Mother and how whales came to be. She still misses her own pod terribly and tries not to give up hope of seeing them again. But also she tries to find joy in the here and now and in the comfort of her adopted whale family.

As Whale grows older and her lungs begin to fail, she 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. She’d done her best. When she couldn’t escape, she’d survived and tried to be happy. Now it was time to rest, but before rest, there is 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.