The Whale's Last Song — Joanne Fedler

Once upon a time, a young girl ventured into a dark forest, looking for a cure for her much-loved elder sister ... A touching, tender and lyrical fable about what we do for the ones we love and the beauty and mystery of being alive in a world in which we are part of everything, and everything is part of us.

As a terrible pandemic rages through the country, a young girl, Teo, leaves her small village and sets off into the forest, in search of a cure for her sister who is infected with the pox. Her father Merdocai has surrendered himself to the evil Marquis to be experimented upon for the Greater Good; and with her mother long-dead, all Teo has to keep her going is the love of her sister, her father and her friend Rodrigo, a stuttering poet.

As Teo ventures deeper into the forest, she encounters creatures and teachers who hold the answers to all the questions she has about who she is, and where she has come from. Meanwhile, out in the depths of the ocean, a whale is returning to the place he was born, to exhale his last breath. While Teo does not know this, he too holds secrets that belong to Teo's story.

The Whale's Last Song is a touching, tender fable, a parable on what we must sacrifice for those we love; a rumination on the tragic mistakes in every life - and the steadfastness that is required to overcome those mistakes - and a love song to the natural world. It is The Alchemist meets The Princess Bride meets The Little Prince. It is a little gem.

'A bright ode to all that is good and beautiful in the world. The Whale's Last Song is a timeless tale, an allegory of the heart.' Maggie Hamilton

'Fresh, exquisite ... Both challenging and reassuring, the story weaves a sense of belonging and the fallibility of being human and the mysteries of being alive.' Suzie Miller, Prima Facie