TEAR-JERKER ALERT!
This is the story of 12-year-old Iris' quest to connect with the 52-Hertz whale, sometimes referred to as the Loneliest Whale in the World, because it sings at a frequency unlike any other, and therefore it goes unanswered, year after year.
Iris is deaf and knows what it's like to not connect with kids her own age, including other deaf ASL signers who often have their own signs for words and phrases that don't include what she knows. When she learns about the whale, she resolves to connect with it, by making a song at its MHz (megahertz) and playing it.
But wow does it swim fast! Iris goes on a mad-cap journey down the US coast trying to get various research stations and marine centers to play the recording, so it can hear -- just once in its life -- a response to its incredibly lonely whale song.
There are two afterwards with information about ASL and the whale, and how his frequency has lowered some in recent years, as well as a curriculum guide by Random House posted to the author's website.
And the truth about whether the whale is actually "lonely" or unique, and that other whales can't hear it at that MHz, is now strongly questioned -- but it made for a great sad story!
