The Stranded Whale

Gr 1–4—While walking home from school along the Maine coast, Sally and her two brothers see a beached whale. With the tide ebbing, they rush to wet down the animal's tail and fins. After Josh runs to summon help, adult volunteers and Coast Guard members arrive. Efforts to move the whale prove futile. As Sally talks to it, the animal lets out "a huge sigh like the wind off the ocean" and dies. When a Coast Guard man present medals to the children, Sally expresses the irony to herself. "So, the whale died and we were heroes." Yolen masterfully conveys both the urgency of Sally's rush to save the whale and her anger and sorrow at its death. An author's note explains her decision to set the story in 1971, when lack of cell phones would delay the arrival of both helpers and broadcasters. She also discusses possible reasons for beachings, which usually end with the whale's death. Cataldo's paintings employ the grays, steel blues, and browns of a northern coastline. Clothing colors are also muted, and daylight gives way to evening, adding to the low-key and pensive mood.