A Whale in Paris

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Modern Age
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A Whale in Paris
Author: Presley, Daniel, Polders, Claire
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Time Period: Modern Age
Time Frame: 1944-1945
Geographic Area: Europe
Country: France
Topics: WWII, Nazi Occupation
Genre: Fiction
Reading Age: Middle Grade
Format: Chapter Book
Published: 2019


World History > Modern Age > WWII

Perfect for readers who love a touch of the fantastic and the impossible.” —Booklist

A hopeful and heroic girl befriends a small, lost whale during World War II and together they embark on a journey to liberate France and find their families in this charming debut novel.

Ever since the Germans became the unwelcome “guests” of Paris in the early days of World War II, Papa and Chantal have gone out in the evenings to fish in the Seine. Tonight Chantal is hoping for a salmon, but instead she spies something much more special: a whale!

Though small (for a whale) and lost, he seems friendly. Chantal soon opens her heart to the loveable creature and names him Franklin, after the American president who must surely be sending troops to rescue her country.

Yet Franklin is in danger: The Parisians are starving and would love to eat him, and the Nazis want to capture him as a gift to Hitler. In a desperate bid to liberate themselves and their city, Chantal and Franklin embark on a dangerous voyage. But can one small girl manage to return a whale to the ocean and reunite him with his parents? And will she ever see her own family again?

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