Gain Song For A Whale Portrayed By Lynne Kelly Represented In E-Text

was a remarkable book! I absolutely love how the author created a story about a lonely dead girl connecting with a whale.
The story was amazing!

It was interesting to read about someone who can't hear, I confess, I haven't thought much what it must be like.
To not be able to know what things sound like and not be able to communicate with others or

join in on conversations.
Iris obviously struggled with this, but I loved how she didn't dwell on those issues, instead focusing on things that she loved.
Like her radios, and then Blue,

This was an engaging read and I really enjoyed it!! I could see myself returning for a reread sometime.
I would definitely recommend it! Lynne Kellys SONG FOR A WHALE is a stunning, emotionally resonant look inside the world ofyear old Iris, a determined girl whose deafness often leaves her feeling alone and frustrated.
Iriss interactions with her hearing family, friends, and classmates are poignant and truthfully drawn, but its her soul connection with Blue, a whale that sings at a uniquehertz frequency, leaving him unintelligible to his fellow whales, that shines especially bright.
Kellys portrayal of deaf culture and relationships within the deaf community are deeply striking, As an outside observer of the deaf community, Kellys depiction of Iriss emotional and physical experiences in a world that caters to hearing individuals has a made a lasting impact, changing the way I look at the world and leaving me more aware of my own privilege.
Iris and Bluehave made a mark on my heart that will linger for years to come, DNF

I wanted so badly to read this because this sounds like an absolutely incredible, important story that needs to be told, and I will absolutely recommend this story to others.
I just couldn't do it to myself, The actual whale this story was inspired by,Blue, is a story that I learned of many years ago and it has upset me so badly I can barely stand thinking about it.
Something aboutBlue's loneliness is just literally one of the most heartbreaking things I've ever heard of, and the parallels to a lonely, deaf child is a painful but real story that, like I said, is so worth reading! But I've tried to pick this book up so many times, and every single time, it's just been more than I can handle thinking about this much.
I feel guilty for not finishing and giving this the proper and undoubtedly raving review it deserves, :

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this review copy in exchange for an honest review! This review can also be found at sitelinkCarole's Random Life in Books.


I liked this book quite a lot, I don't read middlegrade 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 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 twelveyearold 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.
Bluelives 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,

Initial Thoughts
I really liked this book, I thought that the descriptions of Iris and her life at school were incredibly well done, My heart hurt for her because I felt how alone she thought she was, I thought that the whale's story was just as interesting and Grandma was great, All in all, this was just a very well done story, Love this story about Iris and her quest to help a lonely whale, When she finds out about Bluein Science class, she immediately relates to the plight of a whale who cannot communicate with other whales at the same frequency.
That is what her life is like as a Deaf student in a hearing school, So she asks the Music teacher for help in composing a song just for Blue, The only problem is that the whale is thousands of miles away, How can Iris make her way to the whale sanctuary and help get a tag on BluePerhaps her grandma will be of assistance.
. . I really loved this story, partly because I have a special memory of killer whales frolicking in the wake of the Princess cruise ship I was on several years ago on my birthday! This book was inspired by a reallife whale Whalesee pic below and the author's love for sign language interpretation.
Enjoy!
While there were parts of this book I thoroughly enjoyed namely the deaf community representation there were a couple of major plot holes that I just couldn't get over.


I didn't find it realistic in any way shape or form that Iris's parents wouldn't have called the police or immediately gone to get Iris when they realized her grandmother had taken off with her.
It just didn't make any sense,

It also REALLY bothered me that her dad didn't bother to learn ASL given he had inlaws who were deaf and a deaf daughter.
I know that is the reality for a lot of deaf children, but it just made me mad,

I really loved the story and relationship/connection Iris formed with Blue, I thought that that part of the story was amazing, I just wish the way she got to Blue had been a little different/more believable.
Interesting premise: a deafyear old girl learns of the plight of a bispecies whale, who cannot communicate with others because its "song" is at a different frequency.
Iris comes up with a great idea to send a song atdB, While Iris is determined to help, she is also very selfcentered and does not seem to care much for anyone else, except herself.
She decides to head to Alaska on her own to see the whale, eventually teaming up with her grandmother, who is adrift, having recently lost her husband of many years.
I liked Iris befriending the daughter of the marine biologist scientist on the cruise ship,/

In most ways I loved this book but I couldnt quite give itbecause of the point of view of the whale/other whales too.
I couldnt quite suspend disbelief and all the way through, once I hit page, I was eager to read the authors notes at the end.
While they were excellent, informative and interesting, I still couldnt quite accept one aspect of the story, the fictional whale parts, even though I sort of adored that part of the story too.
Its 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 storys narrator, Iris, I also especially enjoyed her grandmother I loved how she responded, What a hoot she was, This is a great granddaughtergrandmother relationship! I also enjoyed so many other characters too, including Bennie amp Sura, Iriss mother, father, and brother, Wendell and his family, and some of Iriss 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 isnt 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 Ive taken as an adult was to Alaska inso it was fun to “be back there” with some common experiences.


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


I did kind of love this book but its/notfor me, rounded down despite the authors explanation.
This would have probably been a favoritestar book for me at ages, and thats the target audience for this book.
I think what bothered me now might not have bothered me back then, The authors notes at the end were wonderful and in my opinion needed inclusions, Ive always loved whales and it pains me that I couldnt quite accept portions of the story, As I read I wasnt 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 couldnt wait to read the authors notes but I didnt want spoilers so I waited until Id finished the book.
Perhaps I should have read everything in the back when I got to pageof the hardcover edition, I dont think the story would have been spoiled for me but I didnt 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,
.