Water Sky

"Nukik! Lincoln gasped, his skin tingling. Could this be happening! Had he just seen a whale with a white tail? Was it now going to give itself to him, as Vincent had said?

Lincoln still could not believe it. He had had only one thing in mind when he made the long trip from Massachusetts to Barrow, Alaska, and that was to find his Uncle Jack. He thought Vincent Ologak, an Eskimo whaling captain, could tell him where to find him, for Vincent was the man Uncle Jack had planned to see when he went to Alaska to help save the bowhead whale from extinction.

But Vincent Ologak cannot or will not give Lincoln a straight answer. As far as he is concerned, Lincoln is there for a very different purpose from the one he himself imagines: A whale is coming to Lincoln, a whale that will end two years of waiting and suffering for Vincent's people.

Nothing in Lincoln's past experience quite prepares him for the whaling camp at Barrow. Here ice is a living presence and the temperature is so cold that spilled water hits the ground as ice balls. Here for the first time he meets young Eskimos-especially Unpik, with whom he falls deeply in lovewhose strong identification with their Eskimo culture leads Lincoln to question his own identity. But above all else it is Vincent Ologak's vision of him that teaches Lincoln more than he has ever learned anywhere before

Jean Craighead George blends masterfully observed nature scenes and a wry story of first love in one of her most appealing and moving novels.

Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children 1987 (NSTA/CBC)
Children's Books of 1987 (Library of Congress)
1988 Books for the Teen Age (NY Public Library)

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.


Thankful for a warm bed and a blanket   June 16, 2002
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.


A pitiful book that does little besides bore   June 14, 2002
 1 out of 8 found this review helpful

Like many other books by this same author, this book is TERRIBLE. I only read it because I was interested in Alaska and though some of the info in this book was valuable she could have made this a non-fiction sort of info book about Alaska and not have wasted my time. The plot if you could say there is one is not very good. My advice to you: do not read this book!


The story of an Arctic drama   March 6, 2001
 4 out of 5 found this review helpful

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.