Water Sky [School & Library Binding]

Jean Craighead George (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1989 | Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

A boy who goes to Barrow, Alaska, to live with friends of his father for awhile learns the importance of whaling to the Eskimo culture.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The exceptional powers of observation and description that George has displayed in her many nature books are also at work in this story about a small group of Eskimos and the bowhead whale they call Nukik. Lincoln Stonewright, the descendant of a Yankee whaling captain, has journeyed from home to Barrow, Alaska, to find his uncle. His wholehearted involvement in the landing of the whale changes him deeply, teaching him to think and act more like a traditional Eskimo. This is a complex adventure story with interesting characters, a dramatic natural setting and significant themes about environmental preservation and cultural conflict. As with the author's earlier My Side of the Mountain, readers may be most impressed by what a young, modern hero in the wild can learn to do.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Born in Washington, D.C. and raised in a family of naturalists, Jean George has centered her life around writing and nature. She attended Pennsylvania State University, graduating with degrees in English and science. In the 1940s she was a member of the White House press corps and a reporter for the Washington Post. Ms. George, who has written over 90 books - among them My Side of the Mountain (Dutton), a 1960 Newbery Honor Book, and its sequels On the Far Side of the Mountain and Frightful's Mountain (both Dutton) - also hikes, canoes, and makes sourdough pancakes. In 1991, Ms. George became the first winner of the School Library Media Section of the New York Library Association's Knickerbocker Award for Juvenile Literature, which was presented to her for the "consistent superior quality" of her literary works.

Her inspiration for the Newbery Medal-winning Julie of the Wolves evolved from two specific events during a summer she spent studying wolves and tundra at the Arctic Research Laboratory of Barrow, Alaska: "One was a small girl walking the vast ad lonesome tundra outside of Barrow; the other was a magnificent alpha male wolf, leader of a pack in Denali National Park ... They haunted me for a year or more, as did the words of one of the scientists at the lab: 'If there ever was any doubt in my mind that a man could live with the wolves, it is gone now. The wolves are truly gentlemen, highly social and affectionate.'"

The mother of three children, Jean George is a grandmother who has joyfully red to her grandchildren since they were born. Over the years Jean George has kept 173 pets, not including dogs and cats, in her home in Chappaqua, New York. "Most of these wild animals depart in autumn, when the sun changes their behavior and they feel the urge to migrate or go off alone. While they are with us, however, they become characters in my books, articles, and stories." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• School & Library Binding: 224 pages
• Publisher: Turtleback Books: A Division of Sanval (February 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0833529757
• ISBN-13: 978-0833529756
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,966,728 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jean Craighead George was born in a family of naturalists. Her father, mother, brothers, aunts and uncles were students of nature. On weekends they camped in the woods near their Washington, D.C. home, climbed trees to study owls, gathered edible plants and made fish hooks from twigs. Her first pet was a turkey vulture. In third grade she began writing and hasn't stopped yet. She has written over 100 books.Her book, Julie of the Wolves won the prestigious Newbery Medal, the American Library Association's award for the most distinguished contribution to literature for children, l973. My Side of the Mountain, the story of a boy and a falcon surviving on a mountain together, was a 1960 Newbery Honor Book. She has also received 20 other awards.She attended Penn State University graduating with a degree in Science and Literature. In the 1940s she was a reporter for The Washington Post and a member of the White House Press Corps. After her children were born she returned to her love of nature and brought owls, robins, mink, sea gulls, tarantulas - 173 wild animals into their home and backyard. These became characters in her books and, although always free to go, they would stay with the family until the sun changed their behavior and they migrated or went off to seek partners of their own kind.When her children, Twig, Craig and Luke, were old enough to carry their own backpacks, they all went to the animals. They climbed mountains, canoed rivers, hiked deserts. Her children learned about nature and Jean came home and to write books. Craig and Luke are now environmental scientists and Twig writes children's books, too.One summer Jean learned that the wolves were friendly, lived in a well-run society and communicated with each other in wolf talk -- sound, sight, posture, scent and coloration. Excited to learn more, she took Luke and went to the Naval Arctic Research Laboratory in Barrow, Alaska, where scientists were studying this remarkable animal. She even talked to the wolves in their own language. With that Julie of the Wolves was born. A little girl walking on the vast lonesome tundra outside Barrow, and a magnificent alpha male wolf, leader of a pack in Denali National Park were the inspiration for the characters in the book. Years later, after many requests from her readers, she wrote the sequels, Julie and Julie's Wolf Pack.She is still traveling and coming home to write. In the last decade she has added two beautiful new dimensions to her words beautiful full-color picture book art by Wendell Minor and others and - music. Jean is collaborating with award-winning composer, Chris Kubie to bring the sounds of nature to her words.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The story of an Arctic drama, March 5, 2001

By 

Isabel Harding (Atlanta, GA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Water Sky (Paperback)

Based on her experiences visiting the Arctic and the whale camp where her son works, beloved children's nature writer Jean Craighead George presents a beautiful story for older readers. It tells the story of a young man, Lincoln, who goes to the top of the world and the northernmost place in the U.S., Point Barrow, home of the bowhead whale and the Inupiat Eskimo. Lincoln comes searching for his long-lost Uncle Jack and to find the roots of his Eskimo heritage, but instead faces his destiny when the captain of an Eskimo whaling camp tells him that a whale is coming to him. Uncle Jack came to the Arctic to try to convince the Eskimo not to hunt the threatened bowhead, and Lincoln, when a turn of events causes him to become the whaling captain, is torn between whether to respect Uncle Jack's environmental plea, or to honor the beloved whaling captain by killing the great whale. Though Lincoln slowly comes to feel like a true Eskimo by weaving himself into their culture and customs, he sadly realizes that he can never be one of these magnificent and efficient people. Romance becomes the main thing that causes Lincoln to realize this, and the heroine he becomes attracted to is as strong and beautiful as the main character in Ms. George's other Arctic novel for young adults, JULIE OF THE WOLVES. The ending is poignant and unforgettable, and out of Ms. George's eighty plus environmental stories, WATER SKY is probably the most provocative and thoughtful. Fans of the Julie books and the spectacular picture book, ARCTIC SON, will adore this story that is at the same time icy, thoughtful, inventive, tragic, and altogether a rewarding read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thankful for a warm bed and a blanket, June 15, 2002

By 

The Accidental Reader "The Accidental Reader" (North Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Water Sky (Library Binding)

Very enjoyable. The plot and the characters were just as compelling as outlined by many of the other reviewers. However, what was most valuable to me was the description of life in the arctic. Books describing something that I know absolutely NOTHING about are very valuable to me. And believe me, before reading this I knew nothing about having to eat the duck's beak from the stew in order to please the host(ess). Descriptions of just how cold it can get--especially at night when the hero was trying to sleep---- were also very moving for me.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Water Sky, January 2, 2004

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Water sky (Hardcover)

(Review by an eleven-year-old fifth-grader, who read this book for a home school assignment)

Water Sky is about a boy named Lincoln who goes to Alaska to find his Uncle Jack, but ends up in a whaling camp. At the whaling camp, he learns what it's like to be an Eskimo whaler. He even comes face to face with a polar bear! Every one says he has a "whale coming to him," so he tries to kill one. The rest of the book shows how he proves them right.

I enjoyed the adventures in this book and I think people who like other cultures should read this book.