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1 BurnsideNature Studies- General


Grayson
by Lynne Cox

Grayson Cover

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Powells.com Staff Pick

You'd swear from the synopsis that it's fiction, grist for an after-school special or Disney's latest blockbuster. But, no, seventeen-year-old long-distance swimmer Lynne Cox, training one morning off the California coast, discovered a baby gray whale that had been separated from his mother. For hours, she stayed with him, from the pier to an oil rig, under pelicans, among dolphins, and through jungles of kelp in the dark, open water, waiting for the mother's return. Cox's bighearted adventure simply leaps off the page. Grayson is one of the most invigorating books to come out of the ocean in years.
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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

It was the dark of early morning; Lynne Cox was in 55-degree water as smooth as black ice, two hundred yards offshore, outside the wave break. She was swimming her last half-mile back to the pier before heading home for breakfast when she became aware that something was swimming with her. The ocean was charged with energy as if a squall was moving in; thousands of baby anchovy darted through the water like lit sparklers, trying to evade something larger. Whatever it was, it felt large enough to be a white shark coursing beneath her body.

It wasn't a shark. It became clear that it was a baby gray whale — following alongside Lynne for a mile or so. Lynne had been swimming for more than an hour; she needed to get out of the water to rest, but she realized that if she did, the young calf would follow her onto shore and die from collapsed lungs.

The baby whale — eighteen feet long! — was migrating on a three-month trek to its feeding grounds in the Bering Sea, an eight-thousand-mile journey. It would have to be carried on its mother's back for much of that distance, and was dependent on its mother's milk for food — baby whales drink up to fifty gallons of milk a day. If Lynne didn't find the mother whale, the baby would suffer from dehydration and starve to death.

Something so enormous — the mother whale was fifty feet long — suddenly seemed very small in the vast Pacific Ocean. How could Lynne possibly find her?

This is the story — part mystery, part magical tale — of what happened.

Review:

"Grayson would be compelling enough as a fable about a young woman and a lost whale. The fact that it's true makes the story wondrous, and unforgettable." Carl Hiaasen

Review:

"A story of remarkable simplicity and charm. A young swimmer invites us into sea off the coast of California where through her eyes we see an entire realm of creatures we have never known so intimately before. Truly for people of all ages, Lynne Cox's adventure with the baby whale, Grayson, becomes a parable and an experience, thanks not only to the author's great and generous spirit, but through her immense gift for describing nature." Anne Rice

Review:

"Lynne Cox is a master of story telling: her prose captures the vast movements and deep mysteries of the ocean and the creatures for whom it is home. Everyone who reads Grayson will be enchanted and profoundly moved. Grayson is a powerful voice for conservation." Jane Goodall, Ph.D.

Review:

"A moving and memorable story, filled with dramatic tension and loving descriptions of the sea and all the wondrous creatures it holds. Grayson is a celebration of the natural world in all its glory, and the deep and lasting effect it can have on us humans if only we pause to notice." John Grogan, author of Marley & Me

Review:

"A beautiful true story of interspecies communication where the human and the whale mind connected." Temple Grandin, author of Animals in Translation

Review:

"Grayson is moving and thrilling in its simple language as Cox laments the inadequacy of words to express profound feelings but demonstrates the exhilaration of the effort." Booklist

Review:

"An inspirational, almost spiritual read." Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Lynne Cox is the author of Swimming to Antarctica. She was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and grew up in Los Alamitos, California. She received her B.A. from the University of California at Santa Barbara. Cox was named Los Angeles Times Woman of the Year in 1975, inducted into the Swimming Hall of Fame in 2000, and honored with a lifetime achievement award from U.C. Santa Barbara. Her articles have appeared in The New Yorker and the Los Angeles Times Magazine, among other publications. She lives in Los Alamitos, California.

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
couponqueen, March 31, 2007 (view all comments by couponqueen)
This story of woman and mammal relaxes the mind of any reader that encounters the unsual pair. A must for animal lovers.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780307264541
Author:
Cox, Lynne
Publisher:
Alfred A. Knopf
Subject:
Women
Subject:
Fishes
Subject:
Swimming
Subject:
Personal Memoirs
Subject:
Wildlife rescue
Publication Date:
August 2006
Binding:
Hardcover
Language:
English
Pages:
147
Dimensions:
7.82x6.12x.77 in. .57 lbs.