And the Ocean Was Our Sky, by Patrick Ness (illustrated by Rovina Cai)

This isn't likely a book you know! It wasn't a book I knew or had heard of, either...I was at the bookstore with Mr. O'Dea looking for something good to read, something new, something I hadn't seen or heard of before..that new! I also wanted something I could donate to the library later, so something middle school students would enjoy. I saw this, the artwork intrigued me, and I know Patrick Ness because I've seen some of his books around, but I don't think I've ever read them. So we bought this, I started it once, thought it was really weird, set it aside...and it sat next to my kennel pillow, waiting for me...calling me...taunting...sometimes the right book just needs the right time, you know? Apparently last weekend was the right time, so I picked it up and started it again.  And the Ocean Was Our Sky is a retelling of the classic book Moby Dick, by Herman Melville, except that this story is told from the whale's point of view. And it takes place in a world where not only men hunt whales, but whales hunt men. The ocean is the sky (to the whales), which makes it hard to read this book quickly - I kept having to remind myself that down is up and up is down. In this story the whales also have the ability to create things like ships and weapons, which the whale hunters carry with them as they hunt whaling ships. Sound confusing? It is, sort of...it took constant reminding that I was reading a whale's thoughts, and that directions were reversed, but the artwork that is woven throughout the story helped! It also helped set and keep the mood of the tale...dark and tense.

I don't know if I have ever read the entire book of Moby Dick, but apparently this incorporates a lot of the language from that book. I imagine that if I read that, and then came back to this, I would appreciate this book even more. I only finished it last night, but it is sticking in my brain...I like that about a book! For that reason, I think this is 4 paws!