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?