One White Dolphin

July 9, 2012
A fishing village in Cornwall, England, provides the setting for this multilayered drama. Kara and her father are struggling to make ends meet a year after Kara's mother's disappearance on a dolphin-saving expedition. Insecure employment and housing, an imminent lift on a 10-year ban on seabed dredging, and Kara's father's efforts to sell the family sailboat make Kara repeatedly feel the loss of her mother. Her discovery of a young albino dolphin caught in a fishing net heightens the community's tense debate over the seabed's fate. Lewis (Wild Wings) captures the complexities of communal living, creating fully realized personalities with opposing needs and values. Disabilities subtly inform character; for example, Kara and her father's dyslexia challenges them in school and work, while her friend Felix's cerebral palsy gives him divergent abilities on land and sea. A sense of moral urgency counters the characters' depression and helplessness, resulting in a poignant and satisfying story about acting for the greater good. Quietly enhancing the story are Aparicio's ornate pencil and India ink il-lustrations, which call to mind traditional Japanese paintings. Ages 8â12. Agent: Victoria Birkett, Miles Stott Children's Literary Agency.

May 1, 2012
A boy with cerebral palsy and an injured albino dolphin calf help Kara Wood come to terms with her mother's death and the sale of the family's boat, Moana. Kara's mother vanished a year ago on a dolphin-saving trip to the South Pacific. With debts mounting, her father plans to sell the sailboat they built and that he has used to tend their lobster pots. The temporary protection of the reef near their British coastal home is about to expire, and local fishing-fleet owner Dougie Evans is looking forward to dredging for scallops again--destroying an environment that Kara loves. Setting up this situation and bringing dyslexic Kara together with Felix Andersen, a computer-savvy boy who doesn't let a useless arm and slight limp get in his way, takes nearly half the narrative. Readers who persevere will be rewarded with a satisfying stranded-dolphin rehabilitation and an edge-of-your-seat sailboat rescue. Lewis complicates her plot with distracting details, including the family vendetta that makes Evans' ultimate change of heart less than convincing. But she evokes the natural world beautifully, with compelling descriptions of the surprising undersea and shoreline wonders that support the strong environmental message. Readers captivated by Wild Wings (2011) may find this less engaging but will certainly be hoping for more books from Lewis in the future. (Fiction. 9-13)

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July 1, 2012

Gr 4-8-A year after her mother disappeared while working for an organization trying to stop the capture of dolphins for theme parks, Kara Woods still refuses to acknowledge that she won't return. Her frustration and anger intensify when she learns that in order to pay his debts, her father needs to sell the sailboat her parents rebuilt. Kara lashes out against Jake Evans, whose father employs most of the men in town to fish on his boats and who intends to dredge the coral reefs her mother tried to protect. She finds an unexpected ally in Felix, whose family moved to Cornwall from London. Despite having cerebral palsy, he quickly develops into an accomplished sailor in a specially equipped boat. After a white baby dolphin washes ashore badly hurt from getting tangled in fishing net, Kara and Felix help in its rescue. The resulting media attention brings crowds who might help stop the dredging. But can local residents afford to support conservation efforts when they could lose their jobs by opposing Evans? When the youngsters save Jake's life in a dramatic sea rescue, he realizes that short-term financial gains cannot compensate for environmental destruction that compromises the community's long-term future. Lewis smoothly incorporates information about threats to dolphins and other ocean life without slowing the pace. Tension between economic realities and environmental goals raises interesting issues to discuss. Kara's and Felix's flaws and strengths make them credible protagonists who demonstrate courage and skill in bringing the conflict to a satisfying resolution.-Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State University, Mankato

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2012
Grades 4-7 In another emotionally intense tale of animal rescue from the author of Wild Wings (2011), Kara, a young resident of a Cornish fishing town, plays a central role in saving a beached albino dolphin. All the while, she is struggling with several other issuesdyslexia; waning hope that her mother, a marine biologist who vanished in the Pacific a year ago, is coming back; the prospect that her father may be forced to sell their beloved boat, Moana; and the looming threat that declining stocks of fish will lead local trawler owners to dredge, and thus destroy, reefs offshore. Having initially gotten off on the wrong foot, Kara finds an unexpected ally in Felix, a new classmate whose cerebral palsy fuels streaks of stubbornness as strong as her own. Lewis heaps their plate with challenges, but together they enlist adult help to rescue the dolphin and initiate a drive to persuade fishermen to sign a voluntary ban on dredging. The author doesn't resolve every issue, but does reward her eco-heroes, and readers, with an upbeat ending. Illustrations not seen.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)