If You Like... Whales

Summer is the perfect time to spend hot days near a cool body of water! This often brings to mind all the magnificent creatures that inhabit the world's oceans --especially whales. Readers have been lucky enough to experience some truly excellent books that have been published recently on the topic of these beloved animals. So, please check out these books for your budding marine biologist or any lover of whales!

In the World of Whales

Written by Michelle Cusolito

Illustrated by Jessica Lanan

Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press, 2025. Informational.

This is the true story of the only known encounter of humans present at the birth of a sperm whale. A touching first look at the tender moments experienced between the freediver, Fred Buyle, his diving partner, Kurt Amsler, and pod of whales. See the back matter for more information on freediving and sperm whales.

We Leap Together

By Christopher Silas Neal

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2025. Picture Book.

Follow the remarkably similar journeys of a whale parent and child and a human mother and child. Both pairs blow bubbles, sing, and travel busy lanes --with mama staying close through it all!

Narwhal: Unicorn of the Arctic

Written by Candace Fleming

Illustrated by Deena So'oteh

New York: Anne Schwartz Books, 2024. Informational.

Ethereal illustrations accompany the expertly crafted narrative journey of a narwhal through jousting with other narwhals, hunting for food with echolocation, and avoiding predators like orcas and polar bears.

Life After Whale: The Amazing Ecosystem of a Whale Fall

Written by Lynn Brunelle

Illustrated Jason Chin

New York: Holiday House, 2024. Picture Book.

The winner of the 2025 Sibert Medal, Life After Whale, is a not-to-be missed timeline of what happens when a whale dies and then goes on to nourish entire ocean ecosystems over the course of a century and beyond. This process, known as a whale fall, is a breathtaking example of the circle of life, and expertly crafted by Lynn Brunelle and Jason Chin.

Comments

Review: Faker

Faker By Gordon Korman New York: Scholastic Press, 2024. Fiction. 214 pages. 12-year-old Trey is used to starting over at a new school -- he has the routine perfectly memorized: make new friends, introduce his dad to the wealthy parents of his new friends, and "Houdini" themselves out of there before they get caught running their latest scam. Trey's dad is a master con artist, and Trey has just been promoted to full-partner. Their new scheme for the next big score brings them to the affluent suburb of Boxelder, TN where Trey's dad has cooked up a fake electric car company for investors to buy into. The only problem is that Trey is starting to grow tired of moving around and never putting down roots, especially after forming a fast friendship with Logan and developing a crush on Kaylee, a socially conscious girl in his class. As Trey longs for a normal life, is there any way he can convince his dad to get out of the family business? Gordon Korman is a perennial favorit...

Review: The Bletchley Riddle

The Bletchley Riddle By Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin New York: Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2024. Fiction. 392 pages. It's spring of 1940, Hitler has swept through most of Europe, and people believe England will be next. Half Polish-Jewish, half American Jakob has been recruited from Cambridge to Bletchley Park where they are working on deciphering the enigma machine. Jakob's sister Lizzie, meanwhile, is being forced to move from London to Cleveland to live with her grandmother after her mother disappeared in a 1939 attack in Poland. Lizzie manages to escape the keeper her grandmother sent for her to bring her to America and makes her way to Bletchley, where she's eventually given the task of delivering messages between departments. When secret messages begin appearing with Lizzie's belongings, she must decipher them to find the truth about her mother's past and location, while keeping the secrets away from the MI5 agent that seems a little t...

Dragon Run

Dragon Run by Patrick Matthews Scholastic, 2013. 336 pgs. Fantasy Al Pilgrommor is excited for Testing Day, when he will receive his rank, a tattooed number on the back of his neck, and a path forward to his future occupation and life. He feels confident because his parents were fours on a scale of seven, but he is worried for his friend Wisp who doesn't have much of a chance of scoring above a two at best. But when Al is scored a zero, he not only has no prospects, he may lose his life as the dreaded Cullers are unleashed to kill him and his family to purify the land's bloodlines. Al's world is ruled by dragons--the lords and supposed creators of humankind--so he thinks that even if he survives, he will have to make his living as a beggar or thief. But when Al sticks up for his Earther friend in front of Magister Ludi, he is drawn into the struggle of a secret organization hoping to destroy the Cullers, and perhaps the dragons them...

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