How to Speak Dolphin
This book brings to the surface topics about acceptance within a community, school, and family. The main character Lily is a tenacious girl who struggles to find her place in her family after losing her mother and being left to live with her stepfather Don and younger brother Adam who is autistic. Lily spends a great deal of time with her brother who loves dolphin. Lily thinks Adam seems to communicate better with the dolphins off the coast of Florida than with his own family. Author Ginny Rorby has created some complex and compassionate characters in this book. She also addresses family, community and environmental issues that many readers themselves with grapple with at some point in life. I would recommend this book for students grades 4-6 who enjoy reading realistic fiction books that deal with family, friendship and of course dolphins!
From School Library Journal
Gr 4–7—Lily has little time for friends or activities since her life seems to revolve around her half-brother, Adam, who has autism. Life has not been easy. Her stepfather, Don, doesn't acknowledge that Adam needs to attend a special school, and Lily has yet to get over the grief of losing her mother in a car accident two years ago. When Don, an oncologist, receives a call about assisting with a young dolphin who has cancer, he eagerly agrees to help. Adam has a strong attachment to dolphins, and Don thinks this will be the panacea to cure all his troubles. Adam quickly bonds with the dolphin Nori, but Lily begins to suspect that life in captivity in a marine mammal park is not the best scenario for Nori. Rorby paints a vivid picture of life with a child with autism and the struggles a family can face. VERDICT This book will raise questions about the ethics of marine life attractions and leave readers rooting for Lily, an appealing narrator.—Beth Cuddy, Seward Elementary School, Auburn, NY
The author has written other notable books that are appropriate for grades 5-8
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