Nizrana Farook has quickly become a firm favourite amongst countless middle grade readers after the success of her stunning debut, The Girl Who Stole an Elephant, and her second enchanting escapade fully confirms this and more! The Boy Who Met a Whale is adventuring at its absolute best – dazzling, daring and deliciously dramatic, it’s the perfect rival to the great literary classics Treasure Island, The Famous Five and Swallows and Amazons.
On the lush, tropical shores of Serendib, a fictional island of Sri Lanka, 12-year-old fisherboy Razi bravely rescues Zheng, a young pirate who narrowly escaped a deadly shipwreck. Full of wild tales of worldly travels, Zheng is on a mission to find the hidden location of a priceless Serendib artefact, but in hot pursuit are some dastardly villains who will stop at nothing to get their hands on the treasure first. Ravi and his twin, Shifa, suddenly find themselves involved in an exhilarating, edge-of-your-seat, high seas chase that will bring them nose to nose with the biggest sea creature that legends only dream of.
Positively bursting at the seams with thrills and peril, bravery and beauty, The Boy Who Met a Whale will sweep you up in a joyous, heart-racing, unforgettable ride that will capture your imagination and steal your heart. With punchy, bite-sized chapters set against a gorgeous Indian Ocean backdrop, Farook once again proves herself to be a master of storytelling as she beautifully binds her light-hearted adventure with a rich, lyrical love song to the wonders of the natural world. From the calls and colourful chaos of a local fishing village to the quiet hatching of turtle eggs and the mesmerising migration of blue whales, Farook masterfully brings the flora, fauna and food of her home country to life on the page and leaves you hungry for more. This is ‘armchair travel’ heaven and I absolutely loved it.