From the Bookshelf of Mock Newbery 2026…

Song for a Whale

Lynne Kelly

Start date: June 1, 2019

Finish date: June 30, 2019

Discussion: Newbery 2020

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Showing 2 of 19 topics — 578 comments total

Newbery 2020

* 2020 John Newbery Medal Awards
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

last updated Feb 05, 2020 12:39PM

What Members Thought

Sep 21, 2019 Alyson rated it liked it

Shelves: elementary-school, realistic-fiction, z-mock-newbery-2020

This was a quick read with a mostly plausible plot about a 12 year old girl named Iris. Iris is a genius at fixing electronics, old radios in particular, but she is lonely. She is the only deaf student in her school. At school one day she learns about a whale who is unable to communicate with other whales and she feels a kinship with the whale. She sets out to help this whale by finding a whale to communicate to him that he is not alone. I enjoyed the heart warming plot. That said there are a fe ...more

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Jul 30, 2019 A rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Really liked this story and the parallels between the deaf world, electronics, and the whales. Also like the relationships between Iris and her grandmother, Blue 55, her mom and dad, and her brother. Loved how she worked with fixing radios too! Such a wonderful heartwarming story! Would recommend highly.

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Jun 17, 2019 Ana Marlatt rated it it was amazing

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Mar 05, 2021 Staciel rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: kid-lit, 2021-reading-challenge

2020 Schneider Family Book Award (given to a book that embodies the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences)

Look at that cover! Love it-

The story was a solid middle grade read about a deaf girl looking for where she belongs.

I highly recommend it- and don't skip the author's notes at the end regarding both sign language and the whale that inspired the story-- 52 blue. Fascinating! ...more

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