THE MUSIC OF DOLPHINS

by Karen Hesse

In award-winning author Karen Hesse's free verse novel, The Music of Dolphins, she captures what it means to be human for one girl. After being the lone survivor is a plane crash at sea, Mila - Spanish for miracle - has been raised since the age of 4 by a pod of dolphins until she is "rescued" against her will by Coast Guard officers and taken to a research facility to be studied. Told in the voice of the feral child, as she shifts into a more human spirit and understanding, the typestyle changes to smaller print. It changes again, to increasingly larger print, when she chooses to return to her dolphin family where she is more comfortable and happier.

Hesse does a phenomenal job of capturing the three different voices of Mila through her journey to humanity and back. This book deals with many abstract concepts such as language, love, and freedom - often a challenge to understand for the 9-12 year olds at which it is aimed. With Hesse's clever use of simple language and the changing typestyles, readers will be enthralled and not want to put it down. Because this is such a different type of novel, the fact that it is free verse is unusual in the first place, even the most reluctant readers will enjoy it. The Music of Dolphins literally sings to readers everywhere.

Hesse, Karen. 1996. THE MUSIC OF DOLPHINS. New York: Scholastic Press.