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2020 John Newbery Medal Awards
By Kristen · 28 posts · 271 views
By Kristen · 28 posts · 271 views
last updated Mar 28, 2021 06:44AM
Final Round - 2020 Mock Newbery Award
By Kristen · 85 posts · 307 views
By Kristen · 85 posts · 307 views
last updated Feb 05, 2020 12:39PM
What Members Thought
While I found the last third to be completely unrealistic, I still really enjoyed this book. I think I read it at just the right time (after a couple of gritty thrillers), it was just the palate cleanser I needed. Iris could have come across as really bratty, but I found her sympathetic. She was just frustrated at always being the one to get in trouble because she couldn't communicate with the world the way most other people could. Her relationship with her grandparents was particularly touching
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Mar 11, 2019
Barbara
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
animals,
depression,
elderly-characters,
empowerment,
teachers,
community,
read-aloud,
travel,
death,
science
In some ways this middle grade novel reminds me of The Thing about Jellyfish since both protagonists are obsessed about one creature, a jellyfish in the case of the first one and a unique whale in the case of this book. Obviously, there are many differences, but it's hard not to think of them together. In this book, twelve-year-old Iris Bailey feels disconnected from the classmates at her school since none of then know ASL, and she must often rely on an interpreter to communicate. She longs to a
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I had a hard time getting engaged with this. There was a spectacularly ridiculous point near the end. I mostly liked the portrayal of deaf culture but didn’t feel very immersed in it. I did love how cranky Iris got at well-meaning, ignorant ‘assistance’. Reminds me of how rude I can be when well-meaning, ignorant advice is offered to my wheelchaired , much more tolerant, husband.
Just so, so good. Kelly should be very proud of how many ways the theme echoed throughout every part of the story and how readers can connect with the characters even more deeply as the story advances. I wasn't prepared for how much I'd like this book and am so glad it was on this year's Sequoyah Nominee list (Oklahoma State's Children's-Choice Book Award). So good.
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I loved the cover of this book and the premise had me so excited. Deaf girl feels a connection with a whale who is unable to communicate with other whales. I wanted to really love it, but a couple of things disappointed me. I did not like the chapters from the whale’s point of view. And the ending had me rolling my eyes. Sad to say, I didn’t love it.
At the beginning I thought I would really like it but it kind of fell flat after awhile. This girl was really determined to get what she wanted which kind of annoyed me but I liked how it ended.
Mar 15, 2019
Donalyn
marked it as to-read
Jun 16, 2019
Melissa
marked it as to-read
Jul 23, 2019
April Moody
marked it as to-read
Jan 27, 2020
Grace
marked it as to-read
Jan 31, 2020
Kate
marked it as to-read
Jul 12, 2021
Kirsten Barber
marked it as to-read-soon
