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Liked It1 of 1 members found this review helpful “Ever since I read Mind in the Waters by Joan McIntyre (a book that celebrates the consciousness of whales and dolphins) I have loved cetaceans. It breaks my heart that they are still hunted. Commercial whaling has been banned for more than two decades, but Japan, Iceland, and Norway continue...” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“Excellent story --deals with long term illness, mercy killing,forgiveness. great native lessons in dealing with being bullied as a teen. Story is targeted at the whole family so both teens and parents can geet something from it. story helps reader deal with cultural dversity as well.”
thesnoopyone wrote this review Wednesday, November 11 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“ Reviewed by Breanna F. for TeensReadToo.com
TeensReadToo.com wrote this review Friday, July 24 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
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!”1 of 1 members found this review helpful“Ever since I read Mind in the Waters by Joan McIntyre (a book that celebrates the consciousness of whales and dolphins) I have loved cetaceans. It breaks my heart that they are still hunted. Commercial whaling has been banned for more than two decades, but Japan, Iceland, and Norway continue firing harpoons into these gentle creatures for products that nobody needs. Orcinus Orca (the Killer Whale) is not hunted commercially, is found in all oceans of the world, and with its striking black and white coloring is one of the best known of all the cetaceans. Another great interest of mine is Native American culture. I greatly admire the native peoples and respect the inherent wisdom of the natural world that so permeates their culture. So this book, for me, was a natural read. And I was not disappointed. It is a well written young adult coming of age tragedy thats appeal transcends the teen audience and encompasses anyone that would enjoy a tale well told. Sarah Richardson moves with her family to Vancouver Island just as she's about to enter the sixth grade. Sarah makes a new best friend, Goldie (a local native girl), and soaks up wisdom from Goldie's grandmother Nana. Her mother is an artist and her father is a marine biologist studying killer whales. While there, Sarah is involved in a family tragedy that will change her life forever. As Sarah is the only witness to this tragedy, and suffers hysterical amnesia, this novel is a haunting tale of choices made and how the repercussions of those choices can tear a family apart. It is an enchanting and uplifting tale that combines the optimistic spirituality of native myth with the hard realities of modern existence. The characters and descriptive setting will enthrall you. The edition of Whale Song that I read was dedicated to the memory of the author's brother, Jason Anthony Kaye, who was brutally murdered in 2006, a week after his 28th birthday. When the police discovered his body, they set out to track down his next of kin. In the end, the police tracked her down through this book. When they asked Jason's friends about relatives in the area, they said Jason had a sister who lived on the south side of Edmonton--they didn't know her name, but they knew that she had written a book about whales. The marvels of the internet ultimately, but sadly, brought two homocide investigators to her door. What a story. You can read more about Jason at the site she has set up in his honor: http://www.jaysporchmonkeys.com I highly recommend this book.”
Glenda Y wrote this review Monday, December 1 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
1 of 2 members found this review helpful“INSPIRED When Cheryl Tardif's publisher invited me to read Whale Song, I admit to beginning with a certain amount of trepidation. After all, the novel is YA, aimed at young female readers, and I'm 66 and male. I'm so glad I didn't let those things deter me. Cheryl Tardif is wonderfully talented. Her prose is clean, so economical I found the act of reading esthetically pleasing in and of itself. And yes, just as you would suspect, beneath this technically superior surface lurks a story of intensity, passion, and drama. Even though the outcome is foretold in various chapter endings, the story still hooked me, pulled me ever forward, toward the fateful conclusion. It's a book about life and death. I loved it. Recommended for anyone who can remember the pain of adolescence. To those of you who are there now, Whale Song might make the journey a little easier. For those who can only remember, Whale Song will bring a tear to your eye and make you wish you could go back and do it all again, no matter how hard your own journey was”
Art T wrote this review Sunday, October 28 2007. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
1 of 2 members found this review helpful“10/22/07
pammykn wrote this review Tuesday, October 23 2007. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
TITLE/AUTHOR: Whale Song by Cheryl Kaye Tardif
RATING: 4.5/B+
GENRE/PUB DATE/# OF PGS: Fiction/2003/201 pgs
SERIES/STAND ALONE: Stand-alone
TIME/PLACE: 1977/Vancouver Island
CHARACTERS: Sarah/11-yr-old daughter of Jack/marine biologist & Danielle/artist
FIRST LINES:I once feared death. It is said that death begins w/ the absence of life. And life begins when death is no longer feared. I have stared death in the face and survived.
COMMENTS:
rec'd from author 10/17/07 (THANKS!)Captivating story w/ complex characters covering a lot of issues in a beautiful natural setting . Told through the perspective of 11-yr-old Sarah. Sarah leaves her home in Wyoming when her father is transferred to Vancouver Island. He is a marine biolgist & has a great offer to study the whales in the area. Sarah leaves behind her best friend and everything she knew but discovers a new life. Some hard challenges -- adjusting to being "the white girl" in a small community of mostly Nootka Indians, experiencing the new school and bullying. At the same time she is welcomed by her neighbors Goldie and Nana and learns their native spiritual ways, makes a new best friend and finds a way to understand and forgive Annie, the bully. A few years later the ultimate tragedy -- the death of her mother, altho' terminally ill, the end may not have been natural. Sarah is very bitter and detached for years after this loss but through her family of friends she eventually finds redemption.
”
1 of 1 members found this review helpful“Whale Song is a wonderful book, appealing to all ages. The writing is perfect, the story is great, and just wait for the ending. It is about a little girl who witnesses the death of her mother, but develops selective amnesia. It is part mystery, part family drama, and part love story. it has everything!”
sharon wrote this review Monday, August 27 2007. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
1 of 1 members found this review helpful“A beautiful YA story; full of native stories and traditions, family love, loss and forgiveness. Sarah moves to a very remote part of Vancouver Island, BC with her family at age 11. Away from her best friend and the mts. that she loves, Sarah has to make new friends and start in a new school. Sarah experiences racism and witnesses the abuse behind the racism. The wise Nana and her granddaughter. the wolf and the whale song guides Sarah through through love, death and forgiveness. The author wants each reader to come away with a message that life is too short to hold grudges or to hate.”
mnnorthwoodsgal wrote this review Sunday, September 9 2007. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
1 of 1 members found this review helpful“Softly written and beautifully configured, WHALE SONG takes you on an emotional journey of mystery and faith. Cheryl Kaye Tardif has done an outstanding job of writing a novel that wants to be read. I couldn't put it down!!!”
pampe wrote this review Saturday, August 4 2007. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
1 of 1 members found this review helpful“This is a great coming of age novel about a young girl whose tragic loss dominoes and thrusts her into a life she never expected. A life that changes her into a completely different person. But, it is also a story of hope as she finds her way back to the people she still has and once again finds herself. When you think you have it figured out, you don't. I measure a good book by how well I can guess the ending. I was wrong this time! That's good.”
LuvReading wrote this review Thursday, August 2 2007. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
