There’s a lot to love about this book: life-like characters, marine biology, and themes of friendship, overcoming grief, and accepting others as they are. I read this with my twins and we enjoyed it.

When Willa's mom dies while they are living in Japan, she returns to Washington State to live with her dad, her stepmom, and her really loud step-siblings. It's a big adjustment. She's also not sure where she stands with her former best friend (she's been gone for a few years). There's a girl at school who bugs the heck out of her. And she misses her mother terribly. Through conversations with a whale named Meg, Willa begins to cope with her grief and find understanding and direction with all her human connections. Definitely one to add to your to-read list if you enjoy heartfelt middle grade fiction.

This was a middle grade novel about a 12 yr old girl named Willa. Her parents divorced years ago and she moved to Japan to live with her mom. Her mom died suddenly and she moved back to the US to live with her dad, stepmom, and 4 step siblings/ half siblings. Her dad seemed to truly care about her, but for most of the story I had a hard time figuring out the stepmom. If it was going to turn into an ok relationship or if things were going to go bad with her. There were several things that bothered me about their relationship.

Willa meets a whale while on a boat with her dad. They begin a friendship. Willa goes down to the beach daily to talk with her whale, Meg. She also reconnects with a friend.

This was an enjoyable story. Willa was a relatable character who I enjoyed getting to know.

As a fan of middle grade books, and anything to do with whales in general, I have to admit that when I requested Willa and the Whale to read it was purely a cover-love request, but I'm pleased to say that this was a surprisingly poignant read.

Thirteen-year old Willa has spent the last few years living with her marine biologist mother in Japan, but when her mother dies unexpectedly, she returns to the United States to live with her father and step-family in her old hometown. Willa, like her mother, has a passion for marine life, and on a whale-watching trip, meets Meg, a humpback whale who can inexplicably communicate with her. In Meg, Willa finds a confidant, as well as a source of wisdom and comfort as she deals with the deep loss she feels, but doesn't know how to cope with.

Willa and the Whale is unexpectedly powerful in the whale it depicts a young teen dealing with her grief. Feeling isolated from the new family she doesn't know yet, Willa struggles to connect and communicate with everyone, including her dad. She clings to things she knows - an old friend, Marc, and her passion for marine biology and learning. At times, this frustrates her as she finds herself in competition for top of her class with another girl, fighting for a position on the local swim team and trying to manage her feelings on her own.

While the magical realism element of the whale being able to communicate with Willa over large distances is a little out there, as we begin to get to know Willa it becomes just part of the story and the tales that Meg shares with Willa help to ease some of the grief the young teen feels and to put everything into perspective.

It was nice to see Willa's growth over the course of the novel, as she moves from seeing her new family as being separate from her, to being a group of people she might like to get to know better. It takes a tragic event in the last third of the book to get her to this point, but from that, she begins to realise that it's okay to need other people and to lean on them for support.

This will be a very important book for middle graders who struggle with grief and loss.

Willa and the Whale, by Chad Morris, is a beautiful story about loss and grief.

In the story, Willa and the Whale, you meet a young girl named Willa. Willa has been living in Japan while her mother who was a marine biologist. After her mother's untimely death, Willa's life is uprooted. She has to now go live with her father and his new family in America.

While dealing with the loss of her mother, Willa's father takes her whale watching. It is during this trip that Willa's life is transformed. She meets a whale named Meg, and the two of them help each other overcome the grief of their lives.

I thought Willa and the Whale did a beautiful job in dealing with a very sensitive manner. Willa's feelings of grief were heard and supported. She took the steps she needed to move on with the help from her father, Meg, and a new friend she meets.

I received this e-ARC from NetGalley and Shadow Mountain Publishing. All opinions are my own.
Thirteen year old Willa has recently moved back in with her father and his new family following the sudden death of her marine biologist mother in Japan. When her father takes her on a whale watch to spend some time with her, Willa finds herself having a conversation with a humpback whale she’s named Meg. Willa can tell Meg things, like how much she misses her mother, she won’t tell anyone else, including her father and best friend, Marc. Willa finds that she can continue to talk Meg from the beach near her house. When a blue whale beaches itself on her beach, Willa’s world comes crashing down around her. In addition to figuring out what to do with the dead whale, Willa must face her grief.
I had some difficulty getting into this book. Willa thinks in “marine” terms – everything is related to the ocean, either marine life or the waves. Now I love the ocean but I thought it was a bit much. The story did pick up about a third of the way through. I did like the way the authors allowed Willa to grieve in her own way and not miraculously get over it. This would be good for readers in grades 3-6.
#NetGalley #WillaAndTheWhale

Willa and the Whale is a lovely and poignant story of a young girl coping with grief, sadness, and loss. She discovers friendship and in unlikely places and circumstances. It is a delightful book and a wonderful read.

This book was a sweet, poignant story dealing with coping, sadness, and loss. I think that it delicately handled how a person who lost a parent might have been feeling without making those feeling seem wrong or like they just needed to get over it to be happy. At no point in the story did anyone tell Willa that she shouldn't feel sad anymore; instead, they helped her overcome the sadness so that it didn't feel so unbearable. The interactions between Willa and her family and friends felt genuine and enjoyable to read. Willa herself never felt whiny or overbearing, but felt like someone I could easily connect to. This is a great story to normalize and humanize sadness and feeling overwhelmed by negative things, but also allowed for the reader to experience humor, joy, and the sense of overcoming something difficult. It was a truly enjoyable read

Willa's mother passed away a month ago and her dad has taken her whale watching. Willa connects with a whale while out on the ocean. This trip also allows her to reconnect with her friend Marco and as their friendship grows, they find that they needed each other to each heal their own demons.

This book is perfect for middle grade readers and deals poignantly with grief and loss.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

So, Willa meets a whale, while whale watching, and find she can talk to it when she goes down to the beach. Her mother, who was a marine biologist died recently, and she is now living with her father and his new family, and there is nothing of her old life, except the house she grew up in, which is now filled with people she doesn't know.

So, yes, it is hard, and yes, she has some good talks with her whale, Meg. They talk about life, and death, and friendships, and this seems to help her with healing, at least a little.

Beautifully written it includes the story, which happened last year, as told by Meg, of a mother whale who gave birth to a baby that died, but that she kept afloat, as they migrated up the coast, for nearly two weeks. As Meg explains "She wasn't ready to let go."

There is lots of sadness in this book, but, as is pointed out, that's ok. You can be sad about losing your mother, and you don't have to stop just because everyone else has stopped.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

Earc from netgalley.

I liked this one okay, whales seem to be a new trend in middle grade, but this one did not make me super interested. but it is a good story overall, especially for readers interested in the ocean/marine life.

I received this ARC from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a truly lovely story about dealing with loss and grief. It starts one month after the death of Willa's mother. Following a divorce, Willa moved with her mother to Japan where she worked as a marine biologist. Upon her death, Willa returns to her previous home on an island in the Pacific Northwest where her dad now lives with a new wife and four noisy children.

Willa's dad takes her on a whale watch on the one month anniversary of her mother's death. It is there that she has a transformative experience with a whale that becomes central to dealing with her overwhelming grief. Willa's friend Marco is happy enough to resume their friendship, but he is struggling with his own demons. Though he is exactly the friend Willa needs, he needs her just as much.

I can't say enough about this one. I loved it and know many middle grade readers will too.