Young Adult / Nature

Date Published: May 31, 2016

Publisher: Fawkes Press

Best friends Terra and Tiluk live alongside the wild orcas of Washington State. On the other side of the continent, Miles wallows in anger and self-pity fueled by his parents' divorce. In a moment of harrowing fate, their lives converge when Miles witnesses a captive orca brutally kill his trainer at a marine amusement park. When Miles contacts Terra and her family of whale biologists to better understand the "killer" whale, the three teens soon realize they are more linked to each other - and the whales - than they every imagined. Driven by a primal urge to connect with the highly-evolved consciousness of the orca, the teens take extraordinary risks to challenge big business and renew lost traditions. Their journey is set to restore an ancient mystical bond between humans and whales that ultimately reveals The Blackfish Prophecy…a revelation about Terra - and those like her - that's about to change everything.

Excerpt

But this evening Claire was no peacemaker. She’d rung the bell. The bell was only for extreme emergencies. Yet when she’d gotten the call from a colleague in Florida about what had happened at OceanLand this morning, ringing the bell was her first response. With that phone call, all the years of hurt and frustration burst, and something broke inside her. She’d known even as she rang the bell that obviously this wasn’t a true emergency, but a part of her needed the tolling just the same. Something had to change. He’d killed again. Her heart cringed, thinking of him. She wiped her eyes, again.

Claire shivered inside her parka and glanced back at Terra and Tiluk, hand in hand as they descended the long set of stairs behind her and the other adults. She saw that Terra gingerly held the carved and blood‐soaked whale that she’d brought home, her fingers bandaged from the cut she’d given herself. Claire hadn’t been surprised to see Terra’s carving of the new calf. She knew her daughter felt a special kinship with Wendy’s new baby. She took a deep breath of the salted air she loved so much, reminding herself why she and her family were here. But her stomach remained tight with grief and empathy. Now, instead of having the chance to meet the new calf her daughter had dreamt about with a free and easy heart, the news of the killing shadowed everything. And even though she was a scientist, a world‐class researcher of the highest order, Claire had asked Terra to broadcast the Adagio on the two‐way. Just this once. With this latest killing, she felt an overwhelming need to ritualize her sorrow with the whales.

She looked at her husband Bill, taking in his salt‐and‐pepper windswept tousle of hair and etched face. His grim glance told her he felt as sick with the news and what it meant as she did. Looking back at Joseph and Maggie, she knew they felt it, too. Joseph reached out and clasped her shoulder for a moment, his eyes holding hers.

“Careful Claire,” Maggie said, eyeing the narrow, steep stairway. “Mercy, we don’t need any more injuries today,” she murmured. Claire stopped short, turned all the way around, and leaned into Maggie, hugging her briefly from the stair below.

“I know, honey.” Maggie hugged her hard. “I know.”

Terra met Tiluk’s eyes, puzzled. What is really going on here? The adults said they’d explain about the Shantu news later, at dinner. Why was her mom so upset? Terra didn’t even know how to feel about what they’d told her. She was too dazed. The calf has a brother. The calf has a brother. Her mind, overwhelmed by this news—and the killing—had shut down. The words kept rolling around and around her head: The calf has a brother. But her brother killed a human. Her brother killed someone. It was all she could think of, as if the news itself blocked her from considering its implications. Tiluk had grown even more solemn and quiet than usual. Neither Terra nor Tiluk were ready to know more.

Book Blitz - February 6th

1. T's Stuff

2. JB's Book Blog

3. Jazzy's Book Reviews

4. The Indy Book Fairy

5. Tea Time and Books

6. Book Junkiez

7. Musings from an Addicted Reader

8. The Avid Reader

9. On a Reading Bender

10. This and That Book Blog

11. Crossroads Reviews

12. Chapters Through Life

13. Novel News Network

14. Bookish YA Kids

15. Mythical Books

16. Java John Z's

17. Book Lover Blog

18.Beach Bound Books

19.Kelly P's Blog

20.Valerie Ullmer

21. Sylv.net

22. Silver Dagger Scriptorium

23. Truly Trendy

24. Nana's Book Reviews

25. Momma Says to Read or Not to Read

26. YA Book Kids

27. Book Reviews by Virginia Lee

28. Book Addict

29. Jody's Book Reviews

<a href="https://sites.google.com/myaddictionisreading.com/2019blitzes/rachel-clark">

<img height="200" src="https://i1249.photobucket.com/albums/hh501/myreadingaddiction/2019/The%20Blackfish%20Prophecy%20-%20Book%20Blitz%20Banner_zpsip6kjbbw.jpg" width="500"></a>