MARCH 2019 - AudioFile
Iris, a 12-year-old deaf girl, prefers American Sign Language to speech, but listeners can still hear her every thought and sign. This is thanks to Abigail Revasch, who expressively narrates Iris’s ASL conversations and mental musings. Iris struggles as a deaf girl in a mainstream school, often feeling isolated. When she learns of Blue 55, an unusual whale that sings at a frequency unrecognizable to other whales, Iris empathizes with his plight and devises a way to use technology to help him. Revasch captures Iris’s frustration and anger as she furiously signs her displeasure to her parents, who refuse to let her participate in the Blue 55 tracking expedition, which takes place three thousand miles from her home. Other times, Revasch conveys the linguistic beauty of ASL in this insightful glimpse of deaf culture. L.T. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
12/10/2018
Twelve-year-old Iris was named for the whale that her grandparents had witnessed being beached on the same day the girl was born, presumably because the mammal wasn’t able to navigate her way due to a hearing loss—though, as Grandpa explains in ASL translated into text, “She wasn’t born Deaf like we were.” Iris zealously collects and repairs vintage radios, feeling vibrations on the speakers to discern “if a radio was playing music or crackling with static or sitting there like a box of rocks.” Iris discovers a new passion after watching a documentary about Blue 55, a baleen whale who swims alone rather than in pods and sings at a frequency that renders his song unintelligible to other whales. She vows to use her electronics acumen to communicate with Blue 55 by creating a song that will “let him know he alone.” Subtly and poignantly drawing a parallel between the girl and whale, Kelly (Chained), who has worked as a sign language interpreter, relays Iris’s venture with credibility and urgency. The emotional current deepens as Iris mourns the sudden death of her grandfather—her kindred spirit—and witnesses the increasing aloofness of her once vibrant grandmother, who’s also deaf. Kelly effectively interjects Blue 55’s perspective into the narrative and adds an engrossing final note about the real-life whale who inspired the story. This finely crafted novel affectingly illuminates issues of loneliness, belonging, and the power of communication. Ages 8–12. Agent: Molly O’Neill, Waxman Leavell Literary. (Feb.)
From the Publisher
Schneider Family Book Award Winner
A New York Public Library Best Book of the Year
"At its luminous heart, Song for a Whale is a tale about longing for connection and finding it in the most magical and unexpected of places. Fascinating, brave and tender, this is a story like no other about a song like no other. A triumph." —Katherine Applegate, Newbery Award-winning author of The One and Only Ivan
“Song for a Whale is beautifully written and is such an important story for kids with big struggles in their lives. I fell into Iris's world from the first chapter. Lynne Kelly does an amazing job telling the story from Iris's perspective.” —Millicent Simmonds, actress, Wonderstruck and A Quiet Place
"A quick-moving, suspenseful plot takes her from junkyards to a cruise ship as she [Iris] gains the confidence to stand up for herself and take control of her life. Written by a sign-language interpreter, this story incorporates important elements of Deaf culture and the expansiveness and richness of ASL...this remains a satisfying, energetic read. Iris' adventures will engross readers." —Kirkus Reviews
"The strength of the book is its strong portrayal of Iris as a deaf girl in a hearing world and an intelligent 12-year-old in headlong, single-minded pursuit of her goal." —Booklist
"Subtly and poignantly drawing a parallel between the girl and whale, Kelly (Chained), who has worked as a sign language interpreter, relays Iris’s venture with credibility and urgency. This finely crafted novel affectingly illuminates issues of loneliness, belonging, and the power of communication." —Publishers Weekly
"Iris’s depth of empathy, the joy she feels working with radios, and the skillful way she navigates two different worlds of communication create an authenticity that will resonate with Deaf and hearing readers alike... An uplifting tale that’s a solid addition to most collections; especially recommended for libraries needing stronger representation of Deaf protagonists." —SLJ
School Library Journal - Audio
09/01/2019
Gr 3–7—As one of the only deaf students at her school, 12-year-old Iris has to weather the everyday frustrations of teachers and peers who seek to communicate with her only on their own terms. So, when she learns about a whale called Blue 55 who has an inability to speak at a frequency that can be understood by his fellow whales, Iris is determined to 'fix' this problem using her unique tech skills. The novel has well-written, multifaceted portrayals of adults throughout, including Iris's grieving grandmother, who is desperate to break through her internal "drizzly November" and connect to the sea and, with it, the memory of her husband. Though she is not a deaf person herself, Kelly—who has worked as a professional sign language interpreter—is adept at navigating this world. Subtle details sprinkled throughout (using verbs like "answered" and "said" vs. always referring to Iris's communication as "signing" and the skillful descriptions of the physicality of individual signs) add to the authenticity. The audio version adds new, original content to the book in the form of back matter (read by the author) on deafness and sign language. Narrator Abigail Revasch skillfully portrays Iris's youthful, adventurous spirit in her voice. VERDICT With solid disability representation and a compelling, deeply emotional story that can be enjoyed in audio format by children of many ages, as well as adults, this audiobook will be a surefire hit for family reading time or car trips.—Ann Santori, Cook Memorial Public Library, Libertyville, IL
School Library Journal
Winter 2018
Gr 4–6—Twelve-year-old Iris has a passion for electronics and repairing antique radios. She's a strong student, too, except when she is hampered by the frustrations of being the only Deaf student in her classes. One day, Iris's science class watches a video about a whale named Blue 55, a hybrid blue/fin whale with an extremely unique voice; the sounds he makes are around 55 hertz, unlike most other whales, which communicate at much lower frequencies. Moved by Blue 55's very familiar struggle to communicate, Iris becomes determined to compose a song for Blue 55 at his frequency, and to play it for him in person. This mission involves a journey from her Houston home to Appleton, AK, that, miraculously, her widowed Grandma agrees to secretly arrange. Readers will need to suspend some disbelief in order to buy Iris's adventure as realistic fiction, but the nuances of her personality make her a compelling protagonist. Iris's depth of empathy, the joy she feels working with radios, and the skillful way she navigates two different worlds of communication create an authenticity that will resonate with Deaf and hearing readers alike. The paralyzing effects of grief are also addressed through Grandma. Gradual healing is depicted in a natural, healthy way, as Grandma turns away from isolation and begins using her talents, doing things that make her happy, and spending time with a loved one (Iris). VERDICT An uplifting tale that's a solid addition to most collections; especially recommended for libraries needing stronger representation of Deaf protagonists, which will be most.—Sara White, Seminole County Public Library, Casselberry, FL
MARCH 2019 - AudioFile
Iris, a 12-year-old deaf girl, prefers American Sign Language to speech, but listeners can still hear her every thought and sign. This is thanks to Abigail Revasch, who expressively narrates Iris’s ASL conversations and mental musings. Iris struggles as a deaf girl in a mainstream school, often feeling isolated. When she learns of Blue 55, an unusual whale that sings at a frequency unrecognizable to other whales, Iris empathizes with his plight and devises a way to use technology to help him. Revasch captures Iris’s frustration and anger as she furiously signs her displeasure to her parents, who refuse to let her participate in the Blue 55 tracking expedition, which takes place three thousand miles from her home. Other times, Revasch conveys the linguistic beauty of ASL in this insightful glimpse of deaf culture. L.T. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2018-11-12
A Deaf girl won't give up her quest to connect with a lonely whale.
Like many Deaf children, 12-year-old Iris has hearing parents, attends school with an interpreter, and has difficulty communicating with her classmates (especially the girl who believes her own invented gibberish is ASL). She had a close relationship with her Deaf grandparents, but her grandmother has withdrawn after her husband's death, and Iris' mom, a child of Deaf adults, has her own anxieties around her daughter's need for Deaf community. The white girl's troubles contrast with her black friend Wendell's, whose hearing family is invested in Deaf language and culture. When Iris learns about Blue 55, a whale who sings at a frequency unintelligible to other whales, she feels an immediate kinship and concocts a plan to create a song Blue 55 can hear. A quick-moving, suspenseful plot takes her from junkyards to a cruise ship as she gains the confidence to stand up for herself and take control of her life. Written by a sign-language interpreter, this story incorporates important elements of Deaf culture and the expansiveness and richness of ASL but makes concessions to hearing readers in its recording of conversations. (ASL dialogue is appropriately rendered in fluent English.) The final suspenseful scenes strain credulity, and lengthy descriptions of frequencies and radio repair drag occasionally, but this remains a satisfying, energetic read.
Iris' adventures will engross readers, though Deaf and hearing audiences will likely experience them differently. (Fiction. 8-14)
