THE LONGEST WHALE SONG

 Author : Jacqueline Wilson

Publisher : Doubleday, Year 2010, Pages 314

 

Review by Indra Mani Lal

Excerpts :

( ) ‘Don’t worry, Mum, you’re breathing just fine. I don’t think you’re really asleep, you’re just having a lovely long rest, aren’t you? Remember when I was little and you used to read aloud to me, and you’d stroke the back of my hand? Look, I’ll stroke yours now.’ I stroke her hand and all the way up to her elbow and back. I will her fingers to move just a fraction. I keep thinking they’re about to, but they stay lying still and limp.

( ) I normally love going to tea at Sally’s house. Her mum always makes cakes for us – proper cakes from scratch, not out of a packet – and we get to help and scrape out the mixing bowl afterwards. I think raw cake-mix tastes even nicer than baked cakes. Sally has her own computer in her bedroom so we can play about on that, and she’s got all these lovely long evening frocks in her dressing-up box so we can play we’re grown-up ladies at a dance.

( ) Whenever I had a worry keeping me awake, Mum would always know, even if I had the light off and lay still as still. She’d lie down on the bed beside me, snuggling into my pillow, and whisper, ‘Come on, little worry, jump out of Ella’s head.’ I would imagine my worry like a little buzzing fly. It would squeeze out of the creases in my forehead and I’d say. It’s out, it’s out!’ Mum would run her hand over my face in the dark, pretending to chase it, and then she’d suddenly swat it. ‘There, I’ve flattened it! The little worry is dead and gone.’ It was always so weird because it worked. Mum hadn’t solved anything- she often didn’t know what the worry even was – but she made it go away.

( ) Then Joseph’s mum came and collected us from school, and Joseph and I made fudge together, which was such fun and it tastes brilliant. I wish you could have a tiny little taste yourself. I’d rub some against your lips but I’m scared it might choke you. I ate lots, and so did Joseph and Joseph’s mum – but I kept some back and put it in a little paper bag and tied it with a ribbon, and then, when Jack came back to collect me, I gave it to Aunty Mavis. She’s always giving me lovely treats to eat so I thought it would be nice to give her something in return.

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My Take : The story is told by a 6 to 8 year old girl whose mother goes into coma while giving birth to a baby boy. How the girl faces the situation, school, baby brother and a pet guinea pig keeps you spellbound.

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Subject /Type – Fiction

Narrative Style  – Excellent

Readability – Excellent

Maintaining Readers interest – Excellent

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