Day of the Whale Synopsis
'Follow the big blue'. That was the last thing Cam's father said to him.
Cam follows Big Blue - everybody does on the island of Cetacea. Their lives take place within his rules, delivered to them by enigmatic whale-talker, Byron Vos.
Byron was once a marine scientist but is now organizing an epic clean-up operation to revive the ocean after centuries of human greed and neglect. And yet Cam wonders if there is a more complex truth.
A truth that may be connected to his father's disappearance. Cam's quest to understand Big Blue leads him to new friends and shared adventures - but the truth, when he finds it, is more dangerous than ever he could have imagined.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781912745197 |
| Publication date: |
28th April 2022 |
| Author: |
Rachel Delahaye |
| Publisher: |
Troika Books |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
336 pages |
| Series: |
Fiction Troika |
| Suitable For: |
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| Other Genres: |
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About Rachel Delahaye
After studying linguistics, Rachel began a career in print journalism. She has worked in London, Sydney and Melbourne, and now lives in Bath. While she has vowed never to move again (well, not for a little while), her imagination has refused to settle down, and she’s now writing children’s fiction, including the hilarious Jim Reaper series.
Rachel is married with two children and a dog called Rocket.
More About Rachel Delahaye
A note from the author, Rachel Delahaye :
As soon as I began Day of the Whale, I felt I was writing something special.
After three months of lockdown, creativity frozen by the strangeness of the pandemic and a malaise about our world, a single image came to me – that of a whale on a giant screen in a town square. Immediately, I imagined a society not run by humans but ruled by the wisdom of whales, and without knowing any more than that I began to write. I wrote and wrote and didn’t stop, and the story that came out was woven from everything that up until that point had been paralysing me: concern about the rise of popularism, the spread in misinformation, decimation of our natural world. But from the bonfire of those dystopian themes came hope in the forms of the main characters, Cam, Banjo and Petra, and as they took shape so did Day of the Whale.
The children evolved to represent truth, history and freedom – the very things quashed by authoritarian states, which is what I realised this story needed to explore… But these spirited children won’t be quashed, and as their defiance and curiosity intensifies, the awful reality about their island home, Cetacea, unravels, and with it the devastating truth about the whales that speak to them through the giant screen.
The backdrop – ‘Cetacea’ – is an island in the flooded future, an imagined melting-pot of Australian landscapes, from the bush to the beach. Australia has always been part of me. I was born in Perth and came to the UK aged six. Since then, I have returned several times, to Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. I’m fascinated by the diversity of wildlife and the vibrant colours, and for me there was no better setting to show what’s at stake if we prioritise talk over action when it comes to climate change. Because, while this isn’t a climate-crisis book, the impact of human greed very much is, and they are sadly inseparable. Autocracy, climate-change, oppression…
It all sounds pretty heavy for a middle grade book, but these themes are only undercurrents; above all, Day of the Whale is an adventure story, with a traditional mix of secrets, exploration, danger and daring. But if, after enjoying the quest, readers find themselves a little more curious about the world we live in, then I’ll be a very happy author indeed.
