Teams of marine biologists and scientists know about Blue 55 and are eager to tag him so that they can study his migrations. His song confuses the creatures he encounters, especially other whales. Scattered throughout the narrative, Lynne Kelly writes brief chapters from Blue 55’s perspective, as he wanders the ocean alone in search of community. Iris’s own sense of isolation mirrors that of Blue 55’s. Iris is often lonely without other Deaf people and she struggles to feel heard. Iris attends a hearing school where she is accompanied by an interpreter and Wendell attends the Deaf school nearby. Iris’s parents and brother know how to sign, but not as well as her friend, Wendell, who is also deaf. Both her grandparents are deaf, but, after her grandfather’s death, Iris’s grandmother is disengaged, pulling away from the family and slipping deeper into loneliness. Iris is the only member of her immediate family who is deaf. But I also blame Lynne Kelly’s strength in conveying the complexities of communication, particularly with reference to deafness and sound. I blame this partially on the fact that the story is about a child and an animal (I’m only human). Song for a Whale was one of those tender stories that hit my softy button I cried several times while reading.

In case my previous commentaries aren’t clear, I’m a softy.

Along with her grandmother, Iris goes on an adventure to find Blue 55 and play her song for him. Iris imagines a way to communicate with Blue 55 to show him that he is not alone and that someone out there hears his special song. Iris is a deaf middle school student who runs away with her deaf grandmother to the coast of Oregon in search for a very special whale, Blue 55, who sings at a much higher frequency than other whales, leaving him isolated. Written by a professional sign language interpreter, Song for a Whale is both a flamboyant tale of childhood and a learned tribute to sound.

A song for a whale book