HIGH AND DRY

A sensitive young boy’s act of bravery saves the life of a beached orca.

Lonely now that the summer’s over and the vacationers have left the isolated island his family has recently moved to, Dylan will spend the winter being home-schooled by his artist parents. He misses friends, recess, and gym, but he enjoys walking the island’s shoreline, kayaking, and watching the pod of orcas that lives nearby. While exploring the beach with his grandfather, he notices that the orca pod is distressed, and they find a young pod member stranded on some rocks in an inlet with the tide going out. Thanks to resourceful thinking and bravery on Dylan’s part, they keep the young orca from drying out and being harmed until it is high tide again and he can be floated back to sea and his pod. The natural world predominates the narrative, and scientific information is seamlessly woven in. Accessible for transitioning readers and graced with the occasional grayscale illustration, the book offers fast-paced action and tension surrounding the whale’s fate—both will keep readers invested. Dylan and his mom appear to have darker skin than his dad, but race is indeterminable. Dylan’s rural setting shows how isolation can come in many forms, a feeling many readers will understand.

A page-turning transitional chapter book with a satisfying ending.