The Music of Dolphins

This one has been on my reading list for a while — after reading Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse, I wanted to read more things by her. This basically follows Mila as she is rescued from the sea and acclimated to the human world after living with and being raised by dolphins for four years. I appreciated the audiobook version because it’s told in first person and Michele McHall beautifully captures the voice and essence of a girl who is just learning how to speak and use words. It’s a lovely experience that I would definitely recommend if you can get the audio version at some point.

The Music of Dolphins provides an interesting snapshot into what it would be like for a girl to go from living in the sea to living in the human world, show more with all that comes with it. What would it be like for a person to live in a building after spending her life living outside, in the ocean, and on the islands? What would it be like to learn human speech after learning how to communicate with dolphins? How would communications with humans go? All of these questions are explored through Mila’s interactions with her world and through her re-acclimatization process.

This is a slow-paced story that is mostly character driven, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s incredibly well-written and there are subtle changes in Mila from chapter to chapter as time passes and she becomes more used to living in the human world, for better or worse. Hesse is thorough in her treatment of this subject, and I like how she includes Mila’s confusion about why the government has so much say in her life and how Mila feels lonely, because while she’s given caregivers, she doesn’t really have a family and feels a lot of loneliness over that. This is a great book for kids to be able to think about what is normal to them that might be strange to others, and what is strange to them that might be normal to others.

The writing alone is enough to recommend this book, but it tells an enchanting story of what we’ve decided is meant by being human, and how that might look to others not used to it. I definitely recommend reading this if you haven’t already. It’s wonderful.

Also posted on Purple People Readers. show less

"In the sea we go we where we wish. We swim and play together in the big sea. Families of dolphin come together, from the cold sea, from the warm sea, from the deep sea and the cays. We play and sleep and eat together".

The Music of Dolphins by Karen Hesse

My review of this book. What to say? Loved it, loved it. loved it. It is beautiful, mystical, playful and lovely..the way I imagine being kissed by a Dolphin must feel.

So this book is an ode to Dolphins and to the sea. If you are reading this and you, like myself, feel calmed and soothed by the great roaring of the ocean waves..and feel soothed by dolphins and all the magnificent and beautiful fish who live in the depths of the ocean..this is the book for you.

Once upon a time, there was show more a little girl named Mila. Tragically, when traveling with family, her plane went down. T he family were presumed dead.

But now, all these years later, The girl, Mila, has been found. Airplanes overhead spotted a mysterious girl at the edge of the sea. They scooped her up and brought her to safety.

For Mila however, she does not necessarily WANT to be brought to safety. She has survived all these years and she has done that with the help of her family..her Dolphin family.

They saved Mila all those years ago and integrated her into their life. She is of the sea now. Together she and her dolphin family live life in playful solidarity where Mila, though she has arms and legs, is accepted as one of them by her dolphin family .

She sings the sea music of the dolphins. She glides on the back and shoulders of her mama and Auntie as they glide amongst the waves and tropical fish across the waters. She has her own language..it is the language of dolphins.

Her new family means well..but they are under strict orders by the Government. Everyone is curious to see this Dolphin Girl. And Mila does acclimate to an extent. She learns English and she learns human music. She learns who she is. But still her heart and soul long for her real family who are far away flying through the sea spray and turquoise waves of the ocean.

This book is so beautiful. It is short..a little under 200 pages. Someone here on GR described it as "one of the best book they had ever read". I wanted to read it for that reason. So glad I did. What a beautiful and poetic ode to our wonderful ocean friends. And without spoilers..I can say I closed the book with a smile on my face.

So do think about reading it. It is also so educational. Mila tells of the Dolphin's ways of living and you sort of fall into listening to her. Also, I must say I would not mind being a Dolphin. Along with other sea friends like seals and otters they are amazing and wonderful beings.

This one gets five stars easily. Fall into the world of the Dolphin. Read this book. show less

3.5***

This book is suitable for middle-school children, though it deals with some very interesting issues. Mila is a young girl found living alone on an atoll off the coast of Florida. Apparently, she had survived a boat capsizing when just a toddler and was saved by (and “raised by”) a pod a dolphins. Now, she is a feral child, and a group of doctors, psychologists and sociologists are certain they know what is best for her.

I’ve read a number of Hesse’s books and I particularly like the novels written in verse. This has a bit of that feel to it, with fragments of thought put down by Mila as she learns the English language and tries to make sense of what she is experiencing given the context of the dolphin society she has show more grown up knowing. There were times when I felt incredibly sad for her (and her dolphin mother). Times when I applauded her “progress” and delighted in the discoveries she made.

Then ending is rather ambiguous, and I’ve read the last three or four chapters over and over again, trying to come to a definitive conclusion. show less

The title of Karen Hesse’s new book reminded me of Island of the Blue Dolphins. But The Music of Dolphins is quite different. In this story, the main character, though similarly stranded on an island as a child, finds a family in a pod of dolphins. Mila is so much part of the family that she speaks the dolphin language, swims with them, and only leaves when she needs to go ashore to find food. I would have enjoyed this storyline if it centered on this life; however, Hesse has another tale to tell. Mila is found and is immediately taken to a lab in order for scientists to study her use of dolphin squeaks, trills -- music.

Hesse thereby sets up a conflict between what the scientists want and what Mila wants. Although she tries to show more understand and later comply with the researchers’ desires, she is ultimately saddened and made anxious by her situation. What if Mila had been placed, instead, with a scientist and their family, committed to nurturing and acclimatizing her to humanity, along with learning everything possible about the dolphin language? Then, rather than the locked doors and an institutional setting, she would be introduced to a more “real” human lifestyle.

The author clearly wants to examine what is involved in being human, and following “Flowers for Algernon,” she uses very large font and simple sentences in the beginning of Mira’s first person narration; the font grows smaller and the sentences contain more varied vocabulary as Mila’s time on land goes by. Then we see Mila’s narration revert to larger font and shorter sentences, indicating, of course, that she is rejecting the humanizing her adult guardians wish for her.

This is a book for six- to nine-year-olds, I would say, since it contains many elements of a bittersweet fairy tale.

I received a copy of the book from the publisher. This is an honest review. show less

While this was a book with an interesting concept, it left me cold. I was so saddened by Mila and her situation. The grief she learns far outweighs the good. Perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself.

The story is about a young girl, around the age thirteen but no one is sure, is found living on an uninhabited island, with dolphins as her family. She is taken from her home, named Mila, and placed in a laboratory, where Dr. Beck and Sandy try to teach her the ways of humanity. Of course, they also want to learn from her the ways of dolphins. While Mila shows remarkable progress in language and music, she also learns of prejudice and injustice and broken friendships.

I was unutterably sad after finishing this tale. I believe in the positive hope show more in all humanity, that despite our flaws and great disasters, we can be better, we can be good. This book, though, is about humanity's inability to save a little girl. Although some good comes to Mila, it's not enough to balance the bad. The story has a moral lesson, it teaches what it is like to be different, the negative effects that society's prescribed roles can have on people, but the lack of redemption at the end of the novel ends everything on a heart breaking note. show less

It "began as a book about speech development, and evolved into something very different," the author says. The Music of Dolphins is the story of a feral child, a teenage girl found after living with dolphins in the ocean for twelve years. Rescued and taken to a research facility where scientists try to teach her to speak and act human. They also want to learn from her how dolphins communicate. Mila, the dolphin-girl, is confused by her new surroundings, ambiguous human behavior, and why people who profess to care about her keep her imprisoned. Although she likes learning English, and especially music, her greatest desire is to return to the ocean and the dolphins. Alongside her story is that of another girl, Shay, taken from neglectful show more parents who had kept her locked in a dark room. While Mila is constantly learning and thriving, Shay's rehabilitation goes very poorly. Told through Mila's diary, which begins as awkward sentence fragments, the story grows in complexity as Mila continues to learn and understand more and more. Targeted to a younger audience, the story is still well-enough crafted to be enjoyed by older readers who are interested in such examinations of human and animal nature.

from the Dogear Diary show less

This is the story of a child who is the lone survivor of a plane crash and is raised by dolphins after becoming stranded on an island. She grows into teenager with her aquatic family, lacking the skills to communicate with any other human, read, write or compute. When the Coast Guard spots her and rescues her, the government then labels her as "feral" and they begin to study her behind locked doors. After she begins to learn, the newly named Mila decides that the human world is not right for her after all. This is a story I loved as a young adult. I dreamed of living in a waterworld, free from expectations.