Whalefall

Jay’s strained relationship with his demanding diver father caused him to leave home at age 15. Two years later, his father dies by suicide, plunging his weighted body into the depths of the deadly water off Monastery Beach. In one final act to seek approval, Jay dives into the dangerous bay looking for his father’s remains. Tension slowly builds as Jay wrestles with unpredictable currents, a giant squid, and the approach of a hungry whale. In between hallucinations and flashbacks of their tempestuous relationship, Jay’s air supply dwindles with each turn of the page, and readers sink into the belly of the whale right along with him. Teens who enjoy philosophical musings will gladly enter the abyss with Jay, though those who get frustrated with existential books such as Moby Dick may feel lost in the murkiness of this underwater survival story. However, the pacing is much brisker here, aided by short chapters and the balance of back story and impending doom. Science-minded teens will appreciate the problem-solving required of Jay, which is written convincingly as a product of Kraus’s research with marine biologists and professional divers.