A Whale of the Wild –now in paperback!
I spent three years immersed in the world of the Salish Sea and this is the wonderful result of all those hours of research, writing, and revision. Thrilled to be working with the brilliant illustrator Lindsay Moore and the team at Greenwillow. The audio book is brilliantly narrated by Hope Newhouse and is available from Libro.FM, and where ever audio books are sold.
The team at Greenwillow made a teachers guide for both WOLF and WHALE. Download the teacher’s guide here.
Awards and Honors for A Whale of the Wild
- New York Times Paperback Bestseller, 2022
- Junior Library Guild Selection 2020
- Starred Review from Booklist
- Fall 2020 Indie Next List
- Bank Street Best Children’s Books of the Year 2021
- Indie Bookstore best seller
- PNBA Holiday Catalog 2020
- Children’s Book Council August Hot off the Press list
- Washington Post Best Children’s Books of the Year 2020
- Reviewed in the New York Times children’s holiday book section
Translations
I’m so very proud to be associated with these international publishers. HarperCollins Italy 🇮🇹, L’ecole des Loisirs France🇫🇷, Coppenrath Germany 🇩🇪, Editura Paralela Romania🇷🇴, and Guangxi Normal University Press, China🇨🇳.
Reviews
A Whale of the Wild. Booklist
By Rosanne Parry. Illus. by Lindsay Moore. Sept. 2020. 240p. Greenwillow, $17.99 (9780062995926). Gr. 3–5
Just as she did with A Wolf Called Wander (2019), Parry creates a spellbinding, heart-stopping adventure for middle-grade readers—this time about a pod of orca whales and their plight in today’s Salish Sea. The hungry pod travels toward the mouth of a river awaiting the salmon, but this year, the fish are late. Readers are instantly plunged into the close-knit pod as its members work together and share stories and knowledge with younger generations. Vega, the future “wayfinder” of her pod, and her younger brother, Deneb, must remember all the lessons they can after a powerful earthquake and tsunami separate the young orcas from their pod. Vega and Deneb alternate the tale’s narration, giving first-person accounts of their harrowing journey to find their family and their encounters (some frightening, others encouraging) with other sea creatures and humans. Parry’s thorough research, observation, and creative writing combine to share the marvelous matriarchal familial world of orcas, the negative impacts of ocean and noise pollution, and threats posed by ships and humans. Her descriptive narrative rises in intensity to match each new danger and resolves with a bittersweet yet hopeful finish. Vega’s tenacious spirit and intelligence will turn readers into steadfast companions on her unforgettable journey. Black-and-white illustrations and informative back matter on orcas and their environment enhance an already excellent book.
— J. B. Petty
After a tsunami devastates their habitat in the Salish Sea, a young orca and her brother embark on a remarkable adventure.
This review is from the New York Times, 4 November 2020
A WHALE OF THE WILD
Written by Rosanne Parry
Illustrated by Lindsay Moore
In 2018, an orca known as Tahlequah carried her dead calf on her nose through the Salish Sea for 17 days. Rosanne Parry makes the killer whale’s mourning ritual visceral in her enthralling new novel, “A Whale of the Wild.” This species is in peril. Dams and overfishing have depleted the salmon population they feed on; ships interfere with echolocation; oil spills and toxic waste have poisoned their reproductive systems. Today, only 73 of these intelligent mammals remain.
Parry writes in a tradition of animal adventure novels (Richard Adams’s 1972 classic, “Watership Down”; Katherine Applegate’s “The One and Only Ivan” in 2012) that address environmental issues from the animals’ point of view, nudging humans to the periphery. Like the cub in her 2019 best seller, “A Wolf Called Wander,” in her new novel a young orca uses her mettle to find her way home — in this case after a tsunami destroys the coastline markers that would have guided her.
The story is told from the alternating perspectives of Vega and Deneb, orca siblings whose “click-stream” vision, whistled songs and hunting expeditions invite the reader into their watery world — illustrated with Lindsay Moore’s graceful black-and-white artwork. Vega is in training to be a wayfinder — a navigator for her matriarchal pod on salmon-seeking expeditions — but after the stillbirth of the sister who was going to be her “forever companion,” Vega impulsively swims away from her family. Parry sagaciously merges the emotional and physical weights of grief as Vega, like the real-life Tahlequah, carries the calf’s carcass on her nose, so that “the weight of all the time we will never have drags me down.” When the tsunami comes, she and Deneb have to contend with their harsh ecosystem: rescuing a whale trapped in a net, interpreting phantom coastlines, navigating debris. “A Whale of the Wild” is a dreamily written, slyly educational, rousing maritime adventure about finding one’s way within one’s family by wandering into the “blue wilderness” of the ocean when you meant to find the sea.
And here’s a review from Joy Preble at Brazos Bookstore in Houston.
In this engaging survival story, New York Times bestselling author Rosanne Parry crafts a grand adventure in the entrancing and often perilous world of orca whales in the Salish Sea and the coasts of Washington and Oregon. Like WOLF CALLED WANDER, A WHALE OF THE WILD is told from the whale’s point of view as a young orca named Vega journeys with her brother to reunite with their pod. Enhanced with delicate, yet realistic black and white illustrations, WHALE OF THE WILD immerses us into the world of the matriarchal orcas, effortlessly allowing us to understand how they live, travel, and experience the world. Parry skillfully navigates a tale of survival, family, and changes in the natural world, letting the story flow organically even as it educates. Both thrilling and lyrical, A WHALE OF THE WILD had me cheering and hoping for Vega and her fellow whales they find their back to those they love.