A Whale of the Wild audiobook

Rosanne Parry returns to animal fiction in this gripping story of two young orcas who must find their way after a series of tragedies separate them from their pod. Used to following her Greatmother, who is the wayfinder for their group, Vega nevertheless has some potential as a wayfinder herself. Grieving the death of her newborn sister, Capella, she leaves her family pod in anger, determined to take the baby's remains to a special spot. Her younger brother Deneb follows after her, determined to bring her back to the family. While thus separated from the larger group, a terrible undersea earthquake occurs, and together with much of the marine life of the Salish Sea, Vega and Deneb head desperately for the safety of the open ocean, where the depths will provide them a refuge from the destructive waves that are coming. Having endured this natural disaster, the siblings must find a way to survive going forward, and Vega takes her place as the wayfinder. But can she find the salmon that she and her brother need to survive? And will they ever be reunited with their family...?I absolutely loved Parry's A Wolf Called Wander , about the lonely journey of a wolf whose pack had been attacked and dispersed, and who traveled the Oregon wilderness, looking for a new home and family, so I picked up A Whale of the Wild with a great deal of anticipation. That anticipation was made all the keener by the fact that it was illustrated by Lindsay Moore, whose picture-book, Sea Bear: A Journey for Survival , I found both beautiful and moving. Happily, I was not disappointed on either score, finding the story here immensely engaging, and the artwork simply lovely. There were moments of great sadness in the story, and moments of wonder as well, and Parry did an excellent job capturing the perspectives of Vega and Deneb throughout their many experiences, incorporating interesting information about orcas - the fact that they share food in their pods, or that they never attack humans - into her text in a natural way. I found myself utterly engrossed in this tale, hoping against hope that the pair would find the rest of their family, and overjoyed at every success they experienced. The dangers of life in the wild - some natural, some manmade - make the story more suspenseful as well, and I was so relieved when, having (view spoiler)[found Aquila and Altair, Vega was able to lead them to salmon in time to save the former from the hunger sickness (hide spoiler)]. I was also struck by the scene in which Vega and her brother work with the humans on shore, to restore the river where the salmon spawn, and came away wondering if there were real-life human/orca interactions that might have inspired that part of the story. As mentioned, the artwork was absolutely gorgeous, capturing the beauty of the orcas and the world around them, and making the reading process far more pleasurable. The detailed afterword gives more information about orcas and their world, and offers children concrete steps they can take, in helping to preserve and protect our natural world, and help the orcas.All in all, a delightful, moving, educational and inspiring book, one I would recommend to all middle-grade readers (or readers of middle-grade fiction) who enjoy animal stories, or who appreciate tales with unusual and unexpected perspectives.

Vega is an orca and lives with her family in the beautiful, and sometimes dangerous, Salish Sea. Vega hopes to become a wayfinder, or salmon hunter, for her family and she is encouraged to find the gathering place that her family needs to locate in order to hunt for salmon. Things don't go smoothly for Vega and this leaves her questioning many things. To top it off, her mother is pregnant and Vega hopes that this will be the little sister she has always dreamed of--a friend, a companion, and so much more. Again, things don't go well for Vega's mother and the baby whale, so this leaves Vega even more distressed than before as she leaves her pod behind. Deneb, her younger brother, finds her just before more tragedy strikes and now they find they are both separated from their pod and out in the open ocean. Vega knows that now more than ever, it's up to her to lead not only her brother safely home, but get herself home too as her family is counting on her in A Whale of the Wild by Rosanne Parry.Read the rest of my review here: http://www.confessionsofabookaddict.c...

A doua carte din seria celor semnate de Rosanne Parry este la fel de interesantă precum prima, ba chiar se pare că autoarea a evoluat față de prima carte, construind o lume mai complexă despre niște animale mai puțin cercetate și care nu sunt monitorizate la fel de bine precum lupii din primul volum. Aici în centru se află oricile, numite și balene ucigașe, animale care trăiesc în mici comunități, în apropierea țărmului Americii de Nord, vânând în familii mai ales somonii care vin să depoziteze icrele pe râurile repezi din Canada sau SUA. Dar lumea lor e în schimbare, iar pescuitul excesiv al somonilor le îngreunează viața, fiind în pericol de dispariție.Pentru cele două personaje principale din acest volum, Vega și Deneb (autoarea le oferă alternativ vocea naratorului), abia ieșiți din copilărie, viața e și mai grea: un cutremur urmat de mai multe valuri de tsunami le distruge lumea și îi îndepărtează de părinți. Vor reuși ei să revină în cadrul familiei și chiar să supraviețuiască? Rezultă un roman pentru copii și adolescenți foarte alert și plin de suspans, în care ne este descrisă cu multe amănunte viața unor animale despre care e necesar să aflăm mai multe. Adăugăm la asta, ca și la cartea precedentă, mai multe pagini, la final, din care aflăm informații științifice, documentate, despre flora și fauna zonei din preajma Mării Salish.

The author of A WOLF CALLED WANDER has created another fantastic wildlife adventure, this time featuring orca whales. Switching perspectives between a young adult female orca and her younger brother, readers are taken on a perilous journey when a tsunami causes the famously familial mammals to be separated from their close-knit pod. Attentive readers will spot actual historical info about orcas in Pacific Northwest, and this is woven seamlessly and realistically within the storyline. While fictionalized, WHALE OF THE WILD is no flight of fancy--the behavior and experiences of orcas and other sealife in their habitat is true-to-form, as are the many hazards they must navigate, including, most grievously for this population of whales who subsist almost entirely on salmon, a crash in the salmon population. I liked how some orcas looked at humans the way some humans look at whales--because they look and live in environment so different from ours, they must not have families or feelings. While the ways of humans remain a mystery to our main characters, they do make some observations that indicate that this way of looking at humans is incorrect—perhaps humans can even communicate! I wish this book and its companion volume got more attention in our library. It is well-written, exciting, and thought-provoking. It contains scenes of intensity as well as beauty. There’s also an open-ended conclusion that will have readers hoping for a sequel.

I was obviously not the target audience for this book, as it was definitely a children’s themed adventure book, but I still enjoyed it. The illustrations were beautiful, and I loved the educational section at the end which talked more about the real history of orcas. (I love orcas)

If you follow my blog or reviews you’ll notice that I cannot resist books about orcas. I love these amazing creatures. I hate their captivity. I have read about orcas from the perspective of scientists. I have read about orcas from the point of view of people who have worked with them in captivity. I have read about orcas from the work of researchers and historians, indigenous perspectives, artists and more. I have never read about orcas from the perspective of orcas themselves. Until now.Vega is an orca, descendent of the wayfinding grandmother orca of her family. Vega knows that someday it will be her job to lead her family, to find food and follow the patterns and stories that have guided her family for many generations. But she doubts her right to lead, especially when decisions she makes puts her family or danger, or no matter how far they hunt, food is scarce. When she and her brother Deneb are separated from their family, Vega must do everything to protect him and find their way back to their family.I give full credit to Rosanne Parry. She has done a fantastic job of not only researching orcas, but capturing their heart and soul. While we mere humans will never know the wonders of the orca mind and heart, I think, from what we know of orcas, Parry has expressed their love of family, their matriarchal society, the hurt, pain and grief from loss of family and food sources, their sense of fun and adventure and their amazing intelligence, especially emotional intelligence. The book is narrated in turn by both Vega and Deneb. Each bring a different perspective to the story. Vega is the female who knows she is born to lead. She struggles with doubting her own abilities, but that belief in her place never really wavers. As the author notes, orca family environments where females are respected, followed and protected at all costs, is a much different society from the one in which young female humans grow-up. Deneb is the younger brother. He is coached by the older male orcas about his place. He will never lead, but he will support Vega and be by her side in all things. His joy is in supporting and swimming alongside Vega. Vega has a more mature voice, while Deneb is the younger brother voice in all things - decisions, food and play. There is reference to all of the greatest threats to orcas in the book - past and present. Vega and Deneb reflect on the grief of the older orcas who remember a time when young orcas were captured and never returned. There is a heartbreaking scene where Vega remembers their losses through the lens of her own more recent loss. The orcas reflect on great fights where they were targeted and fought back for their freedom, costing many their lives and others their family members. There is also the current threat of a lack of food. This is present throughout the entire novel, as Vega, Deneb and their family search for food. Toxins in the water are also mentioned and has a costly effect on Vega’s family. Boat noise which influences an ocas’s ability to communicate, “see” and hunt for food. Throughout all, the orca stories and way is shared, including never to hurt humans, how they have worked with humans and the respect shared between orcas and the Indigenous peoples. I loved Vega and Deneb’s view of humans. Some of the language used is human terms and yet other words - grabbers for hands, etc, reflect the orca view. I was amazed by how Parry brings the world of the Salish Sea orcas to life. In such a small and adventurous book, she brings to life the way of the orcas, their history with the indigenous people of the land, their relationship with other orca pods, and their knowledge of the sea. Mention of other orca species is included and Deneb has a wonderful adventure with a solitary male orca who hunts small mammals. They marvel at their differences and their similarities.There is so, so much to unpack and explore in this book. I would love to use this as a class novel or a jumping off point for an inquiry unit or marine environment studies. It is also a thoroughly enjoyable adventure story of danger and daring and family. The impact of humans on orcas is clear in the story without feeling sanctimonious. I hope it inspires many young readers to learn more about orcas and what we humans can do to help keep them safe. The author includes notes, references, research and further reading and information about the inspiration for her characters. Honestly, the writing and storytelling in A Whale of the Wild is flawless. My advanced copy didn’t include the illustrations, so I look forward to seeing how they help bring the story to life when I get my hands on a published hardcopy. A beautiful story that does justice to a beautiful subject. Also - the ending was a surprise. I’ll be interested to hear what my students say about it. The publishers provided an advanced readers copy of this book for reviewing purposes. All opinions are my own.Find more reviews, reading age guides, content advisory, and recommendations on my blog Madison's Library

A Whale of the Wild // by Rosanna ParryI don't read a lot of middle grade books but I'm really glad I picked this one up. It was a fun and interesting story about one of my favorite animals growing up. I learned a lot about Orcas thanks to this book and really felt immersed into this adventure. It's definitely a book I could see myself buying for our future kids!Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

A Whale of the Wild is a powerful read. It is strangely captivating and emotional. I finished it this morning and have been trying to get my thoughts in order all day – this was different from what I normally read, and it hit me hard.Parry combines research and imagination to take readers into the world of orcas in the Salish Sea. This middle-grade novel is narrated by a brother and sister orca who are traveling with their pod, or "kinship" as they call it, to hunt salmon when an earthquake hits and ultimately causes them to be separated from their pod. Now, an author could have written about an orca pod by outlining their hunting practices, physical traits, and means of communication and navigation. What Parry does by going into the mind of orcas Vega and Deneb is not only allow readers a personal experience of orca behavior, but also capture readers hearts. Man's pollution and poaching are palpable; nets, motors, and traps pose an immediate danger. As humans, we know that our actions impact the environment and other species; Parry helps us to see this from the perspective of wildlife. I am still struggling to classify this type of animal book. It's an adventure novel, with protagonists braving dangerous situations and struggling to survive. It's research-based; back matter will provide a wealth of information about orcas and the Salish Sea ecosystem. It's not an anthropomorphic animals-act-like-humans book. It's believable. Research demonstrates that orcas are intelligent and pass along traditions through generations (see National Geographic), and Parry writes in a way that I could imagine an orca viewing the world. For example: Orcas avoid "thing-carriers" with "biting ends" (cargo ships with large motors) and view humans as unsuited to swimming. They talk about sending out their "click-stream" to find food and sing to a baby about swimming side by side for safety. I didn't expect a book narrated by a wild animal to be so realistic and believable, but it is. Even if you aren't an animal story lover, this is worth looking at because it is so different from others that are out there.A Whale of the Wild is a moving novel about orcas, survival, and dangerous adventures. The back of the book states that it is good as a read aloud, and I could certainly see myself reading this to a fifth-grade class. I recommend it and I look forward to reading it with T.Disclosure: Per FTC guidelines, I disclose partnership with The Children's Book Review and HarperCollins Children's Books.

*cries in marine biologist* 🥺

I received a free review copy of this book from the publisher.After loving A Wolf Called Wander, I was so excited to read this title. I decided to read it aloud to my kids and we enjoyed it so much. Similar to Wander, this book is told from the perspective of the animal, but without personifying the animals thoughts and feelings. It does a great job getting inside the head of a whale as much as we can as humans. The illustrations are again phenomenal and add so much to the reading experience. Nearly every page has some sort of illustration.This story alternates narrators between sister and brother orcas. We would have liked to have each chapter give their name (or even have some illustration) to show whose perspective we were reading, but by the second page of the chapter it was always obvious if it wasn't right away. The two perspectives allowed us to learn more about roles of whales and the relationships that they have in their kinships.This book is also sad in many places, but it offers a realistic perspective of life in our world that is important and a great starting place for conversation. The ending is hope-filled and enjoyable. Recommended for ages 8+, though younger kids will also engage and enjoy.

I just bought this book, on thrift books 📚 and it was delivered last week on Wednesday 3/10/21 6 days ago, today is Monday 3/15/21 at 1:56 a.m. I am now reading this book A whale of the wild as of tonight 4/7/2021 at 9:10 p.m chapter 1 page # 1, I am now on chapter 2 page 15 as of 4/13/21 at 8:25 pm.I just finished reading chapters 2&3 this evening 🌆 I am now on chapter 4 page 41 6/11/2021 7:39 pm. My phone percentage has only gone down ⬇️ 4 percent since 550pm so in the last almost the last 3 hours it's only used 4 percent which is great news 📰 to hear and to know that my battery 🔋 seems to be working a little bit better now I only have a certain amount of room on my phone 📱 so in about 8 months I will be upgrading my phone 📱 service/phone form 4G to 5G and then getting the same phone 📱 just the bigger one that is the OnePlus Nord 💯. I've had that one now for almost 2 months now I've had it since April 23rd 2021 it was a Friday so I do believe it was the 23rd. And it is now 6/11/2021, I am just about done ✅ with my book 📚 I have only 4 chapters left to read and that is it well 3& and a half.

I've always loved young reader chapter books and "A Whale of the Wild" did not disappoint! Set in the Salish Sea in the Pacific Northwest, this is a fantastic coming of age story of a young orca. In this course of this antrhopomorphic adventure we learn about the plight and struggles of the orca, the area they live and the challenges they face. I loved this story of Vega and her brother and it made me miss the area, which has always been one of my favorite areas in the world due to its biodiversity and absolute rugged beauty.