Michael, 11, has always felt more comfortable around old people than kids his age. He loves watching them with their collection of antiques, of old stuff that nobody notices. So when Michael moves from New York to Jerusalem, he naturally begins a friendship with his ailing grandfather. However, t... more

Michael, 11, has always felt more comfortable around old people than kids his age. He loves watching them with their collection of antiques, of old stuff that nobody notices. So when Michael moves from New York to Jerusalem, he naturally begins a friendship with his ailing grandfather. However, this friendship takes an unusual turn not long after. For Grandpa possesses a gift: he can bring Michael into his dreams. Together, they ride bicycles, fly through the neighbourhood and grind knives through bits and cracks of dreams. Not all dreams are wonderful, though. Some are downright terrifying, and they leave Michael panting in fear. All these are revealed to Michael, who's name changes to 'Mikha'el,' as he struggles with the dangers in the dreams, the real-life mystery involving Grandpa's inheritance, the tension between his parents and Madame Saupier (Grandpa's aid), and Grandpa's deteriorating health. 'The Song of the Whales' is the best Middle Grade novel I have ever read. It felt like an award-winning foreign animation was unfolding before my eyes. It chills me to read about their dreams and the really real world. The power of entering dreams can only be passed to another who has the potential and heart to imagine. I suppose this is why Grandpa decides to pass his gift to Mikha'el, and not someone who's lived too deeply in the really real world, like Mikha'el's father.