Whale Song: A Novel [Paperback]

 

 

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11-year-old Sarah and her parents, Daniella (an artist), and Jack (a marine biologist), move to Canada from the States. Sarah is not happy about the move but she starts warming up to the idea when she sees their beautiful new house located right along the beach that has an amazing view. She's even more happy when she meets Goldie. The two quickly become best friends. Sarah loves Goldie's family, especially her grandmother who they call Nana most of the time. Goldie is of Indian descent (along with most of the other people in the town where Sarah is living), so Sarah learns new traditions and tales from the past.

Sarah develops a crush on a boy in her class, Adam. She also gets bullied by a girl named Annie. But for the most part she likes her new home. She especially loves going out on the schooner with her parents and listening to the whales, which are Sarah and her mother's new love.

Not long after being in their new home, Sarah's mom starts having fainting spells. It is discovered that she has a rare condition that is slowly wasting her away. When Sarah finds this out she's devastated. Unfortunately, there's nothing anyone can do for her mother. Her doctors only give her about two to three more years to live, max.

When Daniella eventually ends up in a coma, something happens and she dies. Jack (Sarah's father) is arrested for pulling the plug on the machines that were keeping his wife alive. Sadly, after his long-awaited court date, the jury finds him guilty and he's sentenced to ten years in prison.

Sarah has to go back to the U.S. with her grandparents and leave everything behind once again. She tries to block out all that has happened to her back in Canada, even the good things. But when she's older (in her 20's), someone comes along and opens her floodgates (so to speak), and she once again remembers everything, including how her mother died.

This was an incredibly hard book to write a summary of. So much happens in WHALE SONG that it's hard to cover the basic things in a short summary. Just go read the book and you'll find out how wonderful it is! It's completely heart wrenching because you know all along that Daniella is dying. But the whole book is just amazing.

I seriously never wanted to put it down. Ms. Tardif's use of words is incredible, like when she's talking about the killer whales or describing scenery. They just flow so easily across every page. My heartstrings were being pulled the entire time and I absolutely loved it. If you like these type of books, I seriously recommend getting yourself a copy. You seriously won't be disappointed. And yes, I know I just overused the word seriously -- sorry!

Reviewed by: Breanna F.

Whale Song is the first book I have read by Canadian author Cheryl Kaye Tardif. But it certainly won't be my last! I loved this book! It was wonderfully easy to read and had such believable characters that your heart ached along with them throughout the story. A new life on the west coast of Canada bring adventures to young Sarah. I could easily relate to Sarah's character as a young girl growing up in Canada. The connection to the ocean and the theme of the whales throughout the book made a wonderful ebb and flow to the story. The feeling of loss in the book is profound which Tardif is able to convey through her perfect choice of words. While the story contains several losses, there is also a wonderful message to the book. By the time I had put the book down, I found myself examining some choices in my own life where forgiveness has been denied. This is a Canadian author who should be added to everyone's Author to Watch list! I can't wait to read another of Tardif's books!

The title of this book leaped out at me from its striking cover, but when I started reading, I was captivated by how meaningful the title was to this very moving story. Cheryl Kaye Tardif's words, scenes and characters flowed through the pages so smoothly I almost forgot I was reading. I felt as though I were in Canada with the characters.

This is a story about an eleven-year-old girl, Sarah Richardson, who moves with her family to Vancouver Island, Canada where her father, a biologist, has taken a new job studying killer whales. Sarah makes friends with a neighbor girl, Goldie Dixon, who is a Nootka Indian. Before Sarah moved there, a tragedy occurred in Goldie's family; it involved her older brother, and there is a mysterious tie-in to this novel's title through that occurrence.

Goldie's wise granddmother, Nana, steeped in Indian tradition, plays a major role in Sarah's life, and Goldie's entire family becomes friends with Sarah's family as the story unfolds. When Sarah's mother becomes ill, a boy who has a crush on Sarah gives her a lovely whale figurine which is another tie-in to the title.

What happened in Goldie's family before Sarah came to live there? How does Sarah lose her mother ... and then her father, in uniquely different ways? How does she reclaim them both ...in uniquely different ways? And how does Sarah lose her memory? Why can't she remember the events of the most tragic day in her life? And just how does a whale figure into the plot? Do people who are drowned truly come back as whales, as the Nootkas believe?

That's a long list of questions, I know, but this author answers them with such dexterity, she'll leave you breathless. And, finally, the question that begs to be answered: What IS a Whale Song and how does it help Sarah reclaim her mother?

To get the answers to those questions, you must read this intriguing, exciting book. It will tug at your heart strings, stirring your emotions like no other.

One doesn't simply read a Tardif story, one experiences it! Among the very few authors I've ever said that about is my all-time favorite Pat Conroy. Like him, Cheryl Kaye Tardif has a definite way with words.

This is not only a coming-of-age story, it's a love story, a mystery and a family drama in one clear, concise package. Though billed as women's fiction or general fiction, this novel will appeal to YA and all generations--just as "Harry Potter" does.

"Whale Song" is a bestseller in Canada and the US. It made both lists on Amazon shortly after it was released. I'm not surprised that a film producer is looking closely at this book. In the front of my copy, Tardif wrote: Dare to Dream, and Dream Big! I certainly hope her Big Dream comes true and this novel becomes a movie!

My only regret is that I didn't discover this author sooner. She has two other novels out, "Divine Intervention" and "The River." But she says she "holds this one close to her heart." Well, it's now close to my heart, too, as I'm sure it will be to yours. I look forward to reading those other two, but I can't wait to read the one she's currently working on; it's a nonfiction story about the tragic murder of her younger brother and his friends, The Porch Monkeys ... a story of the lost, the forgiven.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Forgiveness will set you free...
I would describe this book as a beautiful piece of fiction that reads like a memoir. I've never read a book quite like this..it's very unique. Read more

Published 14 months ago by Chynna

5.0 out of 5 stars For Anyone Young or Young At Heart...
I found this book spiritual, mystical and very sweet. Cheryl Kaye Tardif writes like the flow of a river. Read more

Published 22 months ago by John F. Zur

5.0 out of 5 stars "Forgiveness sets you free"
Canadian author Cheryl Kaye Tardif has a winning combination in her young adult book Whale Song: A Novel. Read more

Published on Sep 26 2009 by Linda Bulger

5.0 out of 5 stars Captivating Story
Captivating story w/ complex characters covering a lot of issues in a beautiful natural setting . Told through the perspective of 11-yr-old Sarah. Read more

Published on Oct 22 2007 by Pam Nolan

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best!!!!!!
This book is truly one of the best books I have ever read. Once I picked it up..I never put it down until it was finished. Read more

Published on Sep 13 2007 by Cheryl Pelchat

5.0 out of 5 stars truly a heartwarming book loved it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I loved this book it made me cry, it made me laugh and all through I kept thinking this is one of the best books I have ever read in a really long time!!!!! Read more

Published on Sep 13 2007 by Tammy Jones

5.0 out of 5 stars A Compelling, Heartbreaking Story
In the summer of 1977, eleven-year-old Sarah Richardson is filled with trepidation and resentment when her father's new job forces her to leave her home and best friend in Wyoming... Read more

Published on Aug 26 2007 by Debra Purdy Kong

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best
Here's what I thought of the book - It was SUPER!

Impossible to put down, Whale Song is a book that goes through you while you go through it. Read more

Published on Aug 13 2007 by Juanita R. Violini

5.0 out of 5 stars Forgiveness sets you free
This is an amazing story, and one you'll want to read again and again. Cheryl Kaye Tardif skillfully weaves her tale of friendship, love, loss, pain and forgiveness, and although... Read more

Published on July 23 2007 by Amanda Richards

5.0 out of 5 stars A Rivetting Tale
Whale song was the novel that got me wanting to read more of Cheryl's work. She is a wonderful writer that does in depth research in order to create believable characters and... Read more

Published on May 20 2007 by Rusty Tallman

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