The Lost Whale by Hannah Gold

When his mother checks into a clinic for depression, eleven-year-old Rio is sent to stay with his estranged grandmother in Ocean Bay, California. He doesn’t have much time for her. Where’s she been all these years when he and Mum needed her? Instead, he bottles up his emotions and fumes.

With clear, sweet, unguarded emotions, The Lost Whale is an earnest children’s novel which wears its heart on its sleeve.

But the tumbling ocean calls him, and when he finds his mother’s old sketches of White Beak, her favourite grey whale, something unlocks inside him. If he can spot White Beak and send news of her to Mum, could he reawaken happiness inside her? Could he rescue her? It’s worth a shot…

His new friendship with professional whale-spotter and tour-leader Marina Silver gives him the chance to board a boat and search for mum’s whale. But what he finds instead is a life-changing connection with the sea and the animals in it.

Short chapters and a simple plot make The Lost Whale a quick, heart-warming middle grade read. It’s an earnest, unguarded book which wears its heart on its sleeve and has clear environmental messages about ocean stewardship and human irresponsibility. It’s a story of animal rescue, self-discovery, feelings, and the healing power of nature.

Many thanks to HarperCollins Children’s Books, Hannah Gold, and NetGalley for my advanced reading copy. I’ve read The Lost Whale twice and wiped a tear from my eye both times.

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