Classroom Connections: Whale Fall by Elysia Rourke
Elysia Rourke’s website
Whale Fall novel study guide
A compelling story that blends heartrending emotion with real-world scientific concepts, this exceptional novel encourages readers to consider where wild animals truly belong.
—School Library Journal, starred review
Rourke’s passionate, unflinching debut seamlessly weaves fascinating information about orca biology into the narrative…Somber and uncompromising; a stark call to end animal cruelty.
— Kirkus Reviews
Mighty as an orca breaching water and equally as silly in its lighter moments, this debut novel is a solid recommendation for fans of Rosanne Parry and Sara Pennypacker.
—Booklist
Please tell us about your book.
Whale Fall is my middle grade debut about a young orca named Whale who is destined to become the matriarch and storyteller of her pod. But during a visit to the Itching Spot, Whale is captured by humans and taken to a marine park far from the ocean. She struggles to adapt to life in a pool without her family, trained by humans and forced to perform for their entertainment. Whale faces other traumatized orcas and trainers who vary from kind to indifferent to downright cruel. Desperate to return to the wild, Whale fights to find a way home and become the matriarch she was meant to be.
What inspired you to write this story?
As a kid, I loved Black Beauty. The 1994 film adaptation was a staple VHS in our household rotation. Twenty years later, I watched Blackfish and saw how similar the two stories were. Killer whales are beautiful and intelligent and, just like Beauty, their lives (and struggles) are hugely impacted by the kindness, indifference, or cruelty of the human beings in their lives. I quickly tore through memoirs by trainers that had worked with large marine mammals in theme parks. I read books about orcas’ natural habitats, their families, traditions, and language.
And then one day in late 2018, I was driving home from work, listening to music, and thinking about the story taking shape in my head. I was trying to figure out a name for my orca, but nothing seemed to fit. I didn’t feel like I could call her something cute like Bubbles or Splash – not when she represented a half-century of wrongdoing.
In Black Beauty, Beauty’s name changes with each new owner. I’d read in my research that orcas relate to one another through familial relationships – the most important structure in their lives. So, I decided to name my whale after those relationships. Sister, Daughter, Granddaughter. To herself, she’d simply be Whale. In a lot of ways, it reflected the same roles I inhabited in my life. From there, it was easy to imagine how devastating it might be to lose these connections if your entire being is tangled in them. How captivity is not only a loss of freedom, but a loss of self and identity as well.
When I made that connection, I was off to the races.
Could you share with readers how you conducted your research and / or share a few interesting tidbits about your writing process with this book?
Of course! I read a lot. Books included:
- Death at Seaworld by David Kirby
- Beneath the Surface by John Hargrove
- The Killer Whale Who Changed the World by Mark Leiren-Young
- Of Orcas and Men by Dave Neiwert
- Into Great Silence by Eva Saulitis
- The Lost Whale by Michael Parfit and Suzanne Chisholm
- “The Killer in the Pool” by Tim Zimmerman, Outside Magazine (July 2010).
I studied History in university, so I’m not scared of checking my sources. I dove as deep as I could into the history of human interactions with orcas. I watched every video on YouTube and every documentary I could get my hands on. I read journal articles and listened to hours of Dr. Naomi Rose talking about killer whale social structures. I even reached out to her on Twitter (many, many years ago – I doubt she remembers!) to fact-check myself – and she responded!
It was important to me that, while anthropomorphized, the killer whales in Whale Fall behaved in ways that were as accurate as possible. I also didn’t want to include any conflicts or tragedies that hadn’t happened in real life.
What topics does your book touch upon that would make it a perfect fit for the classroom?
I hope the book provides a jumping-off point for teachers to use to teach conservation and environmentalism in their classrooms. Through the science of whale falls, it is a perfect fit for lessons in biology, habitats, and ecosystems, expanding to reefs and other ocean life.
Themes include hope, freedom, the ethics of captivity, family, belonging, and the power of stories. There is also an opportunity to discuss oral storytelling and the role songs play in our culture. Music teachers could even dive into whale song with their students.
I’ve created a novel study guide that is available on TPT (Link here) for free for teachers and homeschoolers to use.