A Galaxy of Whales($12.83Value)

Description

A perfect summer read about whale watching and friendship both lost and found, from the author of Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries and The Islands of Elsewhere When Fern hears about a photo contest with a big cash award, she decides she'll enter and win! After all, photography is her passion (and was an interest she shared with her dad, who has recently died). She knows she can take a prize-worthy photo of a whale during one of the whale-watching tours her mom runs. But her neighbor (and nemesis), Jasper, is also planning to enter the contest. It's another frustration for Fern while she's already coping with the worry that her best friend, Ivy, might not want to spend time with her anymore. She's hoping to use the prize money to buy something that will attract Ivy's interest. This summer story has everything: the trials and pleasures of friendship, a rousing feud and a touch of adventure, a beautiful exploration of healing after grief, a very moving finale, and a whole lot of whale-watching fascination. "Fawcett gracefully blends the immediate experiences of her awkward but determined protagonist with a warmhearted, humorous look at a small Salish Sea community. Funny, tender, and engagingly poignant." -- Kirkus "This sweet, summery story focuses on a small slice of life in a Canadian coastal town, but its poignant portrayal of grief and growth is universally applicable. Fern's moments of wonder and frustration are especially relatable, and her supporting cast is a delight, including an antagonistic but affectionate brother and a ghostly attic possum on patrol. An enthralling examination of the gut-wrenching and beautiful inevitability of change." -- Booklist "Fawcett eschews traditional tropes surrounding friendship breakups by imbuing Fern and Ivy's relationship with nuance and tenderly depicting Fern's struggles to maintain relationships as those dynamics shift. Organically incorporated lessons regarding endangered animals and environmental challenges add further depth."-- Publishers Weekly Heather Fawcett writes books for adults, kids, and teens, including Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries, The Islands of Elsewhere, the Even the Darkest Stars series, Ember and the Ice Dragons, and more. She has a master's degree in English Literature and a bachelor's in Archaeology. Chapter 1 It was a summer day that Fern would later call the Day of Eleven Whales—­that was how many they saw from the boat , a record. Her brother, Hamish, would argue that it should be called the Day of the Killer Sea Lion, even though the sea lion hadn’t been trying to kill anybody, probably. It had only bitten that tourist’s knee when he leaned over the side of the boat to take a photo. Fern supposed that a big pink knee might look like an appetizing fish to a sea lion. It had probably been an honest mistake. Fern had leaped into action right away, before Mom could even open her mouth. She grabbed one of the ice cream sandwiches from the cooler and hurled it into the waves to distract the sea lion. It wasn’t actually necessary, because the sea lion had already decided that knees were not as tasty as fish and had slid back into the water, but everyone on the boat looked at her as if she were a hero. “Are you all right?” Mom asked the man with the knee in what Fern and Hamish called her Captain Mom voice, loud and confident. The sea lion hadn’t broken the skin, but Mom got the man a bandage and an ice pack anyway. “What a brave girl!” exclaimed a woman with a big hat. “You have a very clever assistant,” the man sitting next to her told Mom. Fern adjusted her baseball cap modestly, trying to hide her smile. She already knew she was a good assistant, but it was always nice to have other people notice. Once the knee had been dealt with, Mom went back to the wheel and pointed the whale watching boat toward home. The Zenith could move fast over open water, and they were soon zipping along, bouncing over shallow waves. Fern took off her cap and leaned back, letting the salty wind comb her hair. Sunlight scattered over the waves like sparks. School was done for the year, and the summer stretched before her like her own private kingdom, waiting to be filled with adventures. “There’s another one!” a man yelled. The tourists scrambled for their cameras, and Mom slowed the Zenith to a crawl. “Is it a killer whale?” called the man, his eyes round. “Another humpback,” Mom said, and the man looked disappointed. Everybody wanted to see a killer whale, but they were rare. Fewer than a hundred lived in the Salish Sea, the part of the Pacific Ocean that lined the southwest coast of Canada and the northwest coast of the United States. The disappointing humpback blew a spout of mist before slipping back into the water without even lifting its tail. Fern knew that meant it was sleepy, swimming lazily near the surface as it dozed. She took a few photos with her own camera, adjusting the strap around her neck—­Mom wanted