Lynne Kelly

Twelve-year-old Iris and her grandmother, both deaf, drive from Texas to Alaska armed with Iris's plan to help Blue-55, a whale unable to communicate with other whales.

Song for a Whale

Sarah Sammis

Throughout all of Nina's narrative, from the trouble at school, to her radio projects, to her Blue 55 song, to her journey, her voice is strong and unique. Though there are other middle grade novels with Deaf characters, they are rarely the protagonists. Nina joins Macy (Macy McMillan and the Rainbow Goddess) as being on a very short list of lead Deaf characters in middle grade fiction.


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339966 - family wildlands offroad

Ashley Ramirez

I have to start off by saying that I spent the majority of this read in tears. It absolutely broke my heart reading Iris's frustrations, her struggles, her practically screaming for people to just listen to her. But what broke me the most was Blue 55's chapters. They were so short but so heart wrenching. 

Kelly's writing is so beautifully done that I could not put this book down. A children's story had me fully captivated and I wanted more. Having a disability that isolated me as a child might have been a contributing factor but it was Iris's own loneliness that peeled away at me. I have come to love books that represent disabilities. They are so incredibly raw and powerful. The words just blow me away.

I will say the ending didn't have a Blue POV that I craved. I really wanted to see what happened to him or how his own thoughts changed after the meeting with Iris. When it didn't happen, I felt a little incomplete. 

Overall, this is without a doubt one of my favorite reads of this year.

Renee Delcourt

This was masterful!! Masterful! I seriously wasn't sure what to expect since I hadn't read a book by Lynne Kelly before, but I have been pleasantly and happily surprised. This book follows Iris' journey to create a song for a whale called Blue 55. Blue 55 is unable to communicate with other whales due to his vocal frequency being to high. The representation in this book is amazing. I loved the relationships between Iris and her family and community. Her journey with her grieving grandmother was absolutely lovely. I just... No words. I read this almost in one sitting and I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a good contemporary.

Elizabeth Raines

3.14 out of five
The characters in this book were alright. I had to keep reminding myself that this book is middle grade and that Iris is twelve years old. I have to say most people that age are annoying, trust me, I know because I was an annoying twelve year old before. You think that you know everything but you don’t. That being said, I think that it is okay that Iris is this way as it is typical for someone her age.

Now, the parents, that’s another story. First, the dad not taking the time to learn sign language to be able to communicate with his daughter just makes me mad. In this book she meets a friend who wants to learn right away but her own father doesn’t!! Then there is the mother who does not want to let Iris go to the deaf school where she would be around her peers because the mother does not want to feel alone. What? Wouldn’t you want your kid to have friends? Come on. I gave the character’s a four out of five as I felt like our main character was realistically written.

The atmosphere in this book is nothing special. We start in Houston, I felt like it was a smaller town so maybe the family is out in the suburbs. Once we get to the traveling aspects of the book the atmosphere gets better. Nothing to write home about, an average three out of five.

The writing isn’t great either, very, we did this and then we did that. I understand that this is middle grade so that writing style might be easier for the age range to understand. I also felt like we had jumps between chapters with no explanation of what happened between the two scenes, that leaves readers confused. Writing is a two out of five.

Throughout the story, I do feel like there were several contradictions. Yes, there are several similarities between Iris and Blue 55 but she has a family and he has none, she does have friends when he isn’t is in a pod. That is just one example.

With the main character of this book being deaf we do get that disability representation. As I am not deaf I cannot tell you if it was properly done but the writer, Lynne Kelly, does work as a sign language interpreter and seems to have a lot of experience working with those who do have hearing impairments. It really opened my eyes to how frustrating it must be to be deaf.

I would not say that I enjoyed this novel but it did not bore me either, God bless short chapters. The parents did bug me a lot but we are seeing them from the point of a view of a tween and I feel like most tweens do see their parents as annoying. All that aside, I do think this book would be something good for young people to read. As it does bring representation to the deaf community and that was something as an adult that I have never read before. It also shows you that nothing is impossible and if you really work than you can reach your dreams even if there are a few bumps in the road, they just make you more determined.

Check out my full review on my blog: https://izzyreads.blog/

Jessica Nottingham

I've written, then deleted, at least four different versions of this review so far. Sometimes you pick up a story and it's so poignant, so important, that it's really hard to write anything resembling a coherent review. That's this book right here. Lynne Kelly has created something magical with Iris' story. It's not just the fact that she's a character who represents the Deaf community. It's not just the sweet way that she ties her passion for radios into communicating with someone who is just as lost as she is, in a sea of others. What makes this book special is how simply it shows how important connections are. To others, to yourself, to the world. I teared up while reading this book and, trust me, you're probably going to as well.

I wanted to give love, first and foremost, to Iris as a protagonist. You can absolutely tell that Kelly did her research, because Iris is precisely what readers from the Deaf community would be looking for in a character. Her inability to hear doesn't define her, but it does kind of set her apart in the world that she is attempting to navigate as a young person. She does a lot of growing from the start of the book, but my favorite part was watching her learn that she wasn't the only one who felt that way. I won't spoil, but there's a lot in this book about accepting others and, especially, appreciating their efforts to learn.

The scientific portion of this story, or the portion that had to do with the ever amazing Blue 55, was also beautifully executed. Learning about whale songs right alongside Iris made me smile. Kelly peppers in things like whale spout shapes, and fluke shapes, all the while making the learning feel like a normal part of the story. Plus, Iris' passion for all of this is infectious. I was rooting for her to communicate with Blue 55 right from the start, and you couldn't have pulled this book away from me if you tried.

I could gush on and on about the familial relationships in this book, or the way that it deals so perfectly with the loss of a loved one, but it would take many more paragraphs than you'd want to read. The fact of the matter is that this is both a gorgeous and important story. I thought the ending was a little bit out there but I had to remind myself that my middle grade self would have LOVED it. It's sweet, and Iris definitely deserved a happily ever after.

Read this! Put it into the hands of all the budding readers that you know. They're going to love Song For A Whale, and so are you.

Iris ble født døv, men hun har aldri latt det definere henne. Tross alt, det er det eneste livet hun kjenner til. Helt inntil nylig har hun ikke følt seg ensom, siden begge besteforeldrene hennes også er født døve. Men bestefar har akkurat gått bort og bestemor er ikke den samme uten han. Det eneste stedet Iris føler seg hjemme er i verkstedet der hun elsker å ta fra hverandre antikke radioer. I naturfagstimen lærer hun om lydbølger og om en hval som ikke er i stand til å kommunisere med andre hvaler. Den ensomme hvaler vekker Iris’ interesse. Hun bestemmer seg for å vise hvalen at han ikke er alene i verden. Med et stjålet kredittkort, to billetter til et cruiseskip og et eventyr senere hjelper Iris og hvalen hverandre på en måte ingen trodde var mulig. Omtalen er utarbeidet av BS.

Manon van Heumen

In the spirit of modern-day classics like Fish in a Tree and Counting by 7s comes the Schneider Family Book Award-winning story of a deaf girl's connection to a whale whose song can't be heard by his species, and the journey she takes to help him. From fixing the class computer to repairing old radios, twelve-year-old Iris is a tech genius. But she's the only deaf person in her school, so people often treat her like she's not very smart. If you've ever felt like no one was listening to you, then you know how hard that can be. When she learns about Blue 55, a real whale who is unable to speak to other whales, Iris understands how he must feel. Then she has an idea: she should invent a way to "sing" to him! But he's three thousand miles away. How will she play her song for him? Full of heart and poignancy, this affecting story by sign language interpreter Lynne Kelly shows how a little determination can make big waves. "Fascinating, brave, and tender...a triumph." --Katherine Applegate, Newbery Award-winning author of The One and Only Ivan

Marloes

Dee B. 

Amanda Kordeliski

Emily Walker

Maura

mollie hughes

A stirring and heart-warming tale of a young deaf girl who is determined to make a difference, the perfect read for fans of Wonder. Iris was born deaf, but she's never let that define her; after all, it's the only life she's ever known. And until recently she wasn't even very lonely, because her grandparents are both deaf, too. But Grandpa has just died and Grandma's not the same without him. The only place Iris really feels at home anymore is in her electronics workshop where she loves taking apart antique radios. Then, during a science lesson about sound waves, Iris finds out about a whale who is unable to communicate with other whales. The lonely whale awakens something in Iris. She's determined to show him that someone in the world knows he's there. Iris works on a foolproof plan to help the whale but she soon realises that that is not enough: Iris wants to find the whale herself. One stolen credit card, two cruise ship tickets, and the adventure of a lifetime later, Iris and the whale each break through isolation to help one another be truly heard in ways that neither had ever expected. Winner of the Schneider Family Book Award, young children category, for books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience.

Song for a Whale

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