A Whale of the Wild

American author Rosanne Parry’s Voice of the Wilderness series highlights the struggles of wildlife and promotes conservation through the experiences of the animal protagonists. The series consists of stand-alone novels that combine middle-grade adventure stories with messages about ecological responsibility. For example, A Whale of the Wild (2020) addresses contemporary issues like pollution, overfishing, and habitat destruction through the eyes of its orca narrators. The series’ first installment, A Wolf Called Wander (2019), is based on the true story of a young male wolf who made a solitary journey from Oregon to California and back again in 2011. Many of the challenges the wolf faces on his trek are caused by human activity, such as hunting. The New York Times-bestselling novel made the Junior Library Guild Best Books list (2019) and was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award (2020). The third book in the series, A Horse Named Sky (2023) is a historical fiction novel set in the days of the Pony Express. Like A Whale of the Wild, Sky’s story examines humans’ often destructive influence on the environment while celebrating the earth’s beauty and the Indigenous cultures who treat nature with respect.