by Laline Paull
A young spinner dolphin lives with her small matriarchal pod at one end of a tropical archipelago, where the water still runs relatively clean. At the opposite end, a massive group of bottlenose dolphins struggles with increasingly painful acoustic conditions they blame on ocean demons. These bottlenose dolphins once forced the spinners from their ancestral home. Now a solitary humpback whale circles the islands, singing warnings about dangerous new threats along ancient migration routes. The young spinner must choose between the safety of her family pod and venturing into unknown waters. The ocean itself transforms around them, making every journey a fight for survival. Each migration brings fresh conflict between the tribes. The spinner faces an ultimate sacrifice as her underwater world changes beyond recognition. Human interference creates new perils that threaten both dolphin communities and the delicate balance they once knew.
Genres: fiction, science-fiction, nature, animals, adventure, environmental-science
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, thought-provoking
Tropes: chosen-one, found-family, sacrifice
Setting: Archipelago, Tropical
Paperback