Keri

by Jan Andrews

"At first Keri thought she was seeing some great rock, but it was a rock where no rock should be. It had a snout all blunt and V-shaped. The snout started just below the tide line and became a body. It flowed on into the water. Somewhere there must be tail flukes.

"'Holy,' she murmured and stood stock still."

A humpback whale had appeared on the beach, and only Keri and her brother know it's there. Something must be done, but how can two kids help a creature that big?

It is Keri who decides that they alone will save the whale, no matter how impossible the odds. After all, hard work and stubborn determination have always meant survival for her people in the past... haven't they?

Jan Andrews is the author of several popular children's books, including the much-acclaimed Very Last First Time, illustrated by Ian Wallace, which has been published in six countries. Keri is her first novel.

94 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Jan Andrews lives down the end of a road on a lake and has a passion for the Canadian wilderness. As a storyteller, she has a particular love for the traditional folk and fairy tales. She has read from the world’s great epics and, during summer weekends, has organized complete retellings of both The Iliad and The Odyssey. Her writing comes out of a conviction that young people can find, within themselves, all they need to manage in their lives. She also knows the power of humor as a means of finding the way through the darkness and delights in a rollicking good tale. She is the author of ten books for children, several of which have been shortlisted for major awards.

Reviews

[The Carrion Librarian · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh. I'm ashamed to share my name with the main character. She is such a belligerent brat. Keri represents everything I dislike about home: she's obsessed with how things used to be and pitches a fit at any kind of change. So your Dad had to leave to find work, so what? That's life on the east coast. It's not like he's dead.
And all this piece of work is made about the whale and it dies anyway! Not helped by the fact that Keri is determined to keep it a secret and try to save it with only her brothers help.
Also "the girl" flashbacks got really annoying after awhile. The book is nowhere near long enough to justify spreading them out so much through the plot. They should have been condensed somewhere in the plot and then the reader could have drawn parallels from there. Not to mention, it would have been less annoying if this oh-so-important ancestor had had a name.
I really wanted to like this book, but it just didn't do anything for me.

[Norah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was pretty good. I don't know why a lot of people haven't read it or like it. It was Boring in some parts, and it could have been longer. Thanks Mrs. Andrews.