Riding the Whales

by Victor Kelleher, Vivienne Goodman (Illustrator)

All she could recall clearly was the steady rocking motion that never stopped, the whales' song filling thegrey-blue emptiness... and the encroaching cold. Always the cold...

When Claire is stranded on the boat after her father is thrown overboard in a storm, she spends days and nights alone, her only solace being the whales that seem strangely to accompany and protect her, their warm underwater world that beckons and soothes. But where are they going? And why is caught up in their journey? As she drifts in and out of consciousness, Claire feels that something awaits her, some special purpose...

Genres: Childrens

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Victor Kelleher is an Australian author. Victor was born in London and moved to Africa with his parents, at the age of fifteen. He spent the next twenty years travelling and studying in Africa, before moving to New Zealand. Kelleher received a teaching degree in Africa and has taught in Africa, New Zealand and Australia. While in New Zealand, he began writing part time, prompted by homesickness for Africa. He moved to Australia in 1976, with his South African wife, Allison, and taught at the University of New England, in Armidale, New South Wales, before moving to Sydney to write full time. Many of the books he has written have been based on his childhood and his travellings in Africa.

Kelleher has won many awards for his books, such as the Australian Children's Book Award.

Reviews

[Soul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una historia fantástica acerca de las ballenas de como se comunican y cuidan a sus ballenatos, estas adoptan por decirlo de algún modo a Claire, y está a su vez ayuda a escapar a un ballenato de una Orca y posteriormente ayuda a sus amigas a escapar de los cazadores de ballenas, todo esto parece un sueño hecho realidad para la protagonista.

[Dulce · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.8 Leí este librito cuando estaba más pequeña y recuerdo que me había fascinado. Me acuerdo que la idea de las ballenas y la ruta que ellas hacen me emocionaron tanto que estuve como dos semanas viendo documentales. Pasó el tiempo y ya no recordaba casi nada sobre esta historia, solo algunas cosas como un viaje de una niña que se queda sola en el mar y que nada con ballenas, así que me di a la tarea de buscar el nombre de este libro. Busque y busque como alrededor de una hora o más y por fin lo encontré, no lo podía creer. Entonces lo leí y me di cuenta de por que me gustaba tanto. Era un viaje inolvidable tan detallado que me parecía todo real como que 2+2 son 4, y adoraba la idea de una niña tan cercana al mar y a los seres que en el viven que simplemente lo ame por completo. Si, será una lectura fácil y para niños, pero una de mis favoritas.

[Karime Cury · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hermosa historia, llena de aventuras y mucho suspenso, pero también de toques mágicos en la simple naturaleza de nuestro mundo. Me encanta la manera en que la protagonista se va relacionando con todas estas criaturas acuáticas y aprendiendo a comprenderlas.

[Book Panda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This beautifully written book was my favorite novel in my primary school`s small library. You can practically picture the whales and feel like your really there with them when you close your eyes. Even now, years later, I still remember being able to read it over and over while never getting bored.

[SBC · Rating 3 out of 5]

Claire, between the age of 10-13 I imagine, is interested in whales. Her father takes her out on the yacht to try to see some on their journey south. They are out near Sydney. A storm comes up and due to the whales surfacing under them, the mast breaks and her father is tossed out of the boat. She throws him the life raft and sees him go under with it then never thinks of him again for the rest of the story, not even to wonder if he's safe or alive.

She bangs her knee, breaking her leg, so is pretty feverish and so on. But when she goes in the water she is fine so she spends most of her time there. A pod of humpback whales accompany the boat and she drifts south with them. She spends a lot of time in the water, at first at the end of a rope, then a baby whale takes her on its back and she swims with him. The humpbacks first come after a shark nearly gets her. The shark is accompanied by cold water, but dolphins send it away then she is protected by a humpback's bubbles. After she swims on the baby, the others let her ride on their backs but they run away when killer whales arrive, orcas. She sees one eat a seal, but they don't want to eat her and make her their friend. Later the humpbacks return and baby whale is very happy. Because he is so joyous they end up near the orcas, but when they see Claire is with the baby they don't eat him. Baby is able to run back to his pod and Claire stays with the orcas who get her back to her boat. She spends days and days swimming with the whales. When the water gets too cold she goes back to the boat. Then she sees a whaler. It is going to shoot baby whale so she jumps into the very cold water and leaps up on baby's back, sending the harpoon awry when he sees her. Baby and the pod submerge and she never gets to say goodbye. She is almost dead but baby's call makes her rise to the surface. She strands on the ice and sits under the cliff. All the while she had thought she was going there for a reason, and now has fulfilled it.

Claire wakes up in hospital and is told she was found not in the Antarctic but just further down the coast of Australia beneath a non-ice cliff, and no icebergs are meant to be in that region. They think she was probably never that far from land. Her parents don't believe her story and think she was delusional from the fever and cold and broken leg. But later her father finds some disturbing evidence - her wetsuit shows was in the sea a lot, there is a rope out the back like she said she floated from, and they are told there are still some whaling ships posing as research ships out there. But at this moment of their possible capitulation she disagrees and says must have been delusional, keeping it her own secret. Or perhaps she was delusional, in a dream fever, or in a shamanic way, accompanying the whales in spirit.

Whether she really swam with the whales or not, it was a pleasant read and an interesting look at whales and the life of the sea. I thought it was interesting the way different predators were represented - sharks vs killer whales vs humans.

[Judy Wollin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great mysterious adventure.
If you have seen a whale you know how magnificent they are. Huge, peaceful, curious and playful. Claire had planned and dreamed of seeing the whales in the waters off Sydney for a year. She found herself on her father’s yacht in waves that were growing rapidly as the weather deteriorated. Claire thought she glimpsed a whale, but Dad thought is was rough water.
Claire begged for one more try to see a whale, but a huge wave capsized the yacht. Claire’s dad was flung overboard, and she nearly drowns.
Survival instinct trigger Claire’s response. She’s still onboard and must do what’s necessary to survive. Claire finds super strength to hack away at the remaining splinters of wood, so the broken mast falls into the ocean. It falls but injures Claire in the process. She struggles to release the damaged sails and lines.
The yacht with Claire on board is carried South on the ocean currents. Dark shapes emerge from the depth of the ocean. Whales – Claire is fascinated. She ties a rope to the yacht and throws the line into the ocean. She dives in and swims near the whales.
Claire is sick, she has a fever and a very painful leg. She feels better in the cool water. Danger approaches silently and swiftly. The whales dive into the safety of the dark depth of the ocean. Can Claire survive the predators, the cold and her illness? Alone. Floating further and further South.

Recommended for 8+ years. A lovely book to read together too.

[Nekopau · Rating 2 out of 5]

Más que un libro listado en esta categoría lectora, me pareció rememorar una de las reseñas de las "Selecciones del Readers Digest", puesto que el tono de aventura se muestra cotidiano.
El personaje de Claire no toma mucho impulso realmente. Son sus emociones e ideas las que comandan el desarrollo de la historia, y sospecho que es la intención del autor. Pudo haber tenido mayor impacto, pero el desenlace es apresurado, poco creíble, y el hecho de que la idea de la protagonista con respecto a su aventura, termine como lo hizo, deja mucho que desear.
Hubiese funcionado mejor en formato de cuento corto, o microrelato....pero quizá hacerlo libro, fue hacerlo extensivo y forzoso.

[(k)iwi · Rating 3 out of 5]

las ballenas>>>

[Liz Uribe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es interesante y conmovedor cómo las ballenas cuidan a Claire. Me ha gustado este libro, creo que será genial para iniciar con el hábito de la lectura con mis alumnos.