I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the THE BOY WHO MET A WHALE by Nizrana Farook Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!
A Sri Lankan fisherboy is swept up in a thrilling seafaring adventure, complete with a kidnapping, missing treasure, and a huge blue whale! From the author of The Girl Who Stole an Elephant.
Razi, a local fisherboy, is watching turtle eggs hatch when he sees a boat bobbing into view. With a chill, he notices a small, still hand hanging over the side.
Inside is Zheng, who’s escaped a shipwreck and is full of tales of sea monsters and missing treasure. But the villains who are after Zheng are soon after Razi and his sister, Shifa, too. And so begins an exhilarating escapade in the shadow of the biggest sea monster of them all.
Author Nizrana Farook has crafted another briskly paced, action-packed quest that swells with empathetic heroes, missing treasure, and a great beast lurking beneath. Set against a vibrant, authentic landscape inspired by Sri Lanka, this delightful caper will thrill young fans of adventure and fantasy.
A Financial Times Best Children’s Book of the Year
Title: The Boy Who Met a Whale
Author: Nizrana Farook
Publication Date: February 1, 2022
Publisher: Peachtree Publishing Company
Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy
The boy clung to the rail with a death grip as the ship lurched violently in the storm.
It was sinking.
All around him was darkness and the roar and crash of waves as the ship buckled and rain lashed down. The wind was shrill and whip-sharp. But for all the noise, the ship was empty of people. Where was everyone? The boy ran along the deck, slipping and sliding to the wheelhouse.
It was deserted.
He sprinted down the length of the ship, hurtling below deck to the captain’s quarters. He pounded on the door, desperate to be heard over the sound of the thunder and the howling of the wind. But it was impossible.
The door opened suddenly and the first mate slipped out, a long leather pouch clutched in his hand. He started when he saw the boy, and quickly hid his hand behind him.
“Sir, the storm—” began the boy, but the man shoved him aside and hurried down the passage.
The boy held on to the side for balance and stumbled into the cabin. The captain was lying in his bunk, fast asleep. The room had been ransacked: drawers were hanging open and books had been tossed all over the place. The ship listed sharply and the debris on the floor slid to one side of the room where water was pooling, creeping darkly over fallen books.
The boy froze in shock. The crew had known they would be sailing into a storm. Why was the captain asleep so soundly? Why was the whole ship asleep? Apart from…
He stormed out of the captain’s cabin and scrambled up to the deck. A lifeboat had been lowered into the sea, and the first mate was getting ready to climb down, accompanied by a man the boy recognized as the ship’s cook.
He stared at the men, a cold fear clamping around his heart as the rain-soaked through him. “Marco!” he screamed. “What did you do? Did you drug them?”
The first mate looked back and shrugged, not even bothering to deny it.
Rain pelted the men as they prepared to get in the boat. Something snapped in the boy, and he raced toward them and plucked the leather pouch from the first mate’s pocket.
Yelling, the men gave chase as the boy sprinted away down the ship. Lightning lit up his running figure. The ship groaned and shifted. The men stumbled and one fell as the boy doubled back, jumping over the fallen man and speeding past his furious companion. The first mate took out a knife that flashed silver in the gloom of the night. He ran fast, closing in on the boy as water filled the deck and crept up his ankles.
It was over. The ship was going down, and it was too late to save anyone. The boy wailed in anguish as he threw himself over the side and into the lifeboat. The ship tilted and groaned, making a huge cracking sound as it broke apart. The men ran to the railing and yelled at the boy, but the rain blotted out everything as he rowed swiftly away. The last he saw of the ship was it careening jerkily off course.
The boy screamed into the wind and wept for his lost friends.
Nizrana Farook was born and raised in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and the beautiful landscapes of her home country find their way into the stories she writes. She has a master’s degree in writing for young people, and lives in Hertfordshire, England with her husband and two daughters.
Week One:
| 1/31/2022 | Kait Plus Books | Excerpt/IG Post |
| 1/31/2022 | YABooksCentral | Excerpt |
| 2/1/2022 | Rajiv’s Reviews | Review/IG Post |
| 2/1/2022 | Pick A Good Book | Excerpt/IG Post |
| 2/2/2022 | Nerdophiles | Review |
| 2/2/2022 | @coffeesipsandreads | Review/IG Post |
| 2/3/2022 | The Momma Spot | Review/IG Post |
| 2/3/2022 | #BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog | Excerpt |
| 2/4/2022 | BookHounds YA | Review |
| 2/4/2022 | Log Cabin Library | Excerpt |
Week Two:
| 2/7/2022 | @lexijava | Review/IG Post |
| 2/7/2022 | The Bookwyrm’s Den | Review/IG Post |
| 2/8/2022 | The Reading Wordsmith | Review/IG Post |
| 2/8/2022 | Lifestyle of Me | Review |
| 2/9/2022 | OneMoreExclamation | Review/IG Post |
| 2/9/2022 | Two Points of Interest | Review |
| 2/10/2022 | Locks, Hooks and Books | Review |
| 2/10/2022 | Bibliophile On Loose | Review |
| 2/11/2022 | @enjoyingbooksagain | Review/IG Post |
| 2/9/2022 | The Book View | Excerpt/IG Post |
This looks like a great book for children! We love that it’s an adventure and it also can teach kids about different parts of the world.
Gotta love a book that can entertain and teach!