July 1, 2023
Soren is determined to revamp the song of his fellow humpback whales. Finding the music of the older male whales "outrageously boring," Soren opts for something catchy, with sounds reminiscent of maracas. Eager to share his new music, Soren performs for his friends, and Hans offers his opinion: That was the worst song ever. After many more revisions (seven iterations altogether), Soren lands on one that becomes a hit under the sea. Eggers tackles important themes--the challenges of the creative process, which entails unavoidable laboring, and the necessity of trustworthy friends willing to give honest feedback. Thanks to Soren's dogged persistence and Eggers' tongue-in-cheek humor, these complex concepts become accessible for young readers. Hoffmann's illustrations depict the widely smiling whales with expressive faces and accessories, like Hans' red deerstalker hat. The sea creatures have personality, and the underwater world is filled with movement and energy. It helps that Soren is a likable character, but the repeated back-and-forth of the seven versions of the song starts to get tedious, making the book a lengthy read. That said, inspiration finally strikes when Soren learns to look outside his cave at the beauty around him--a lovely point well made. (This book was reviewed digitally.) An approachable explanation of tenacity, friendship, and hope. (Picture book. 6-9)
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Starred review from November 27, 2023
Soren, an adolescent humpback whale, finds the traditional songs of his species “outrageously boring,” writes Eggers (Her Right Foot). “Soren wanted to make shorter, catchier songs, with melodies, and choruses, and maybe even maracas or theremins. He had ideas!” The other young whales are ready for change, too, but when Soren debuts his new tune, the response is far from encouraging—in fact, it causes a couple, including best friend Hans, to throw up. But Soren won’t give up, employing tenacity that, much to the story’s credit, isn’t portrayed with clichéd pluckiness. Instead, the whale just keeps doggedly at it, described via an approachable voice and novella-like pacing, as Hoffmann (Iamasaurus) immerses readers in a painterly aquatic world that’s both beautiful and funny (the refracted light and ocean currents are almost palpable, while reappearing pink whale vomit delivers as a visual joke). Eventually, a genuine hit does emerge, after Soren eschews his musical preoccupations and incorporates the “bright beauty” that surrounds him. It’s hard work to make something that’s not only new but wins the hearts of others, but in the hands of these creators—human and whale alike—the labors of the creative process sing. Ages 6–9. Author’s agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. Illustrator’s agent: Jennifer Laughran, Andrea Brown Literary.
February 1, 2024
Grades 1-4 *Starred Review* Male humpback whales are the rock stars of the sea, composing new songs every year that can travel thousands of miles through the ocean. They sing to attract female humpback fans to their breeding grounds. Eggers performs a fun, inspiring riff on this fact, presenting a teen humpback, Soren, who absolutely hates the songs of his elders, dismissing them as too long and boring, and vows to compose new, snazzier songs, "maybe with maracas." But when Soren performs his first composition, every creature around hates it. His friends hate it, including his best friend, Hans. Soren swims back to the cave that has good acoustics, revising again and again in response to Hans' constructive criticisms until, finally, Soren puts the beauty and sound of the ocean into his song--and it's a hit! Eggers adopts a jaunty, joking tone throughout, letting readers know what are actual facts about whales and what he's making up. The illustrations are great at capturing the translucence of water and giving an idea of the tremendous size of the humpbacks. In this hilarious story, Eggers succeeds in giving readers one whale of a lesson on the values of learning from criticism, abandoning what isn't working, and never giving up.
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January 12, 2024
Gr 3-6-Noting that humpback whales are renowned for their long, repetitive songs ("This part of the book is true," the author writes. "But the rest of this book is made up"), Eggers presents Soren, a bored young humpback ("what we might consider a teenager") who thinks that short, catchy numbers "with melodies, and choruses, and maybe even maracas or theremins" would be far cooler. Unfortunately, his first try at a composition is so bad that one flippered listener throws up. Subsequent revisions fare no better. Even his best friend Hans is discouraging: "I would say it was awful, but it was not good enough to be awful." Undeterred, Soren keeps at it, wisely dropping the maracas along the way while incorporating what he sees and feels about his ocean world until, after many failures, he not only manages to please the lobsters (a literally hard crowd) but has the hit whale song of the year-popular even with country-music loving freshwater audiences! Hoffmann echoes the tale's jocular pitch with sinuous seascapes featuring marine fauna sporting tiny hats as well as the odd clouds of krill vomited up by chunky cetacean critics with human expressions. There's a serious message beneath all the badinage, though, about the relationship between creativity and hard work. VERDICT Despite (or because of?) murky waters that seem related to writerly indulgence, this develops a theme worth the hearing, even for creative readers well beyond the younger reaches of the picture book audience.-John Edward Peters
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