Adelina's Whales
Grade 2-4-Sobol's full-color photographs handsomely convey Mexico's Laguna San Ignacio, winter home of gray whales that migrate down the Pacific Coast. As in Seal Journey (1993) and One More Elephant (1995, both Cobblehill; o.p.), the author focuses on specific experiences of humans who interact with animals. Adelina, 10, lives in a remote fishing village. The scrappy houses, patched together from bits of wood and metal sheets, stand in contrast to the windswept sand and deep blue ocean. The simple narrative follows the girl and the fishermen in her family as they hear and see the returning whales, first from the shore and then from small boats. The huge mammals attract visitors from the outside world, and passengers with cameras poised ride along for whale watching. A sense of the great size and some of the behavior of these creatures is conveyed, but the emphasis is on the annual rhythm of the returning animals as a bond between human generations and also between humans and whales. This documentary account is well constructed and beautifully assembled on the pages. In a foreword, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., describes the advocacy work of the National Resources Defense Council in 1997 in staving off factory development in the area. A page of facts about gray whales is appended. Although readers get only a quick glimpse into each world-Adelina's and that of the whales-the glimpse is attractive and worthwhile.Margaret Bush, Simmons College, BostonCopyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.