Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #240336 in Books
• Published on: 2008-02-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780156034678
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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From Publishers Weekly
On a clear California morning when Cox (Swimming to Antarctica) was 17 years old, she had an unusual experience that stayed with her for 30 years, creating a spiritual foundation for her personal and professional success. In this slim and crisp memoir, Cox details a morning swim off the coast of California that took an unexpected turn: returning to shore, she discovered that she was being followed by a baby gray whale that had been separated from its mother. As Cox developed a rapport with the whale, she took on the responsibility of keeping it at sea until it was reunited with its mother. Cox expertly weaves fine details together, from the whale's mushroomlike skin to how other fish react to such a large creature. At times Cox's prose is uneven, alternating from emotional to factual, but her pure joy at connecting with Grayson (her name for the baby whale) overrides any technical inconsistencies. The combination of retelling her once-in-a-lifetime experience with her observations on life ("If I try, if I believe, if I work toward something... the impossible isn't impossible at all") will have timeless appeal for all ages. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal
Adult/High School–In a simple but suspenseful narrative, the author recounts her mystical encounter with a baby whale and his mother on a March morning 30 years ago. Then 17 years old, Cox was just completing her swim off Seal Beach, CA, and heading toward shore when the ocean became unusually rough and swarming with small fish. A large animal that she at first mistook for a shark was swimming just beneath her. In fact, it was an 18-foot-long baby gray whale. Cox was frightened and then enchanted by the playful creature that seemed to want to follow her to shore, an act that would be fatal for him. She developed an emotional bond with the whale she calls Grayson, guiding him away from the shore. Both teen and calf were hungry, fatigued, and dehydrated, but Cox, frozen to the bone in 55-degree water, was determined to find the baby's mother. With incredible optimism and courage, and the guidance and encouragement of nearby fishermen and lifeguards, Cox finally united Grayson with his huge, barnacled parent. This true adventure is as breathtaking as the exotic underwater life that the author describes in vivid detail.–Jackie Gropman, Chantilly Regional Library, Fairfax County, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Cox, author of Swimming to Antarctica (2004), looks back to an unforgettable experience when she was 17 years old, training for a long-distance swim. In the darkness of 5 a.m., outside the water break on California's coast, she encountered something swimming in the water with her. She felt something beneath her and worried that it might be a shark. It turned out to be a baby gray whale. She realized that the 18-foot-long whale, which she called Grayson, had lost his mother on their travel to the feeding grounds in the Bering Sea. How could she help? Growing tired in the 55-degree water, Cox held on, communicating with Grayson, expanding her optimism as wide as the vast ocean, praying for the mother whale's return. In this lyrical little book, Cox vividly describes the sights and sounds of the ocean, oil rigs, and the city nearby, the speed and amplification of sound underwater. She recalls being caught in the lip of a wave and pulled into its mouth, the loneliness and keen awareness of danger to herself and the young whale. They encounter dolphins, jelly fish, pelicans and other aquatic life, as well as a host of humans cheering on their efforts. This book 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. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

"Something had brought us together. Something much bigger than the two of us."
(3.5 stars) When seventeen-year-old Lynne Cox is finishing her morning swim between Seal Beach pier and the San Gabriel River jetty, south of Los Angeles, she is hungry and cold. It is March, and the water temperature is in the fifties, but Lynne, a serious open-water swimmer, is in training, regularly doing three-hour workouts in the cold Pacific. When she discovers that a baby gray whale is following her to shore, she realizes that the baby must have lost its mother. Remaining in the water, alone except for the whale, she continues swimming on the chance that the baby, whom she names Grayson, will hear its mother vocalizing or that the mother will find them.

For the next couple of hours, she and the whale swim the one-and-a-half miles from the pier to an offshore oil rig in deep, often rough, water. The whale is confused, often diving deep and disappearing for ten minutes or more at a time, and Lynne begins to despair. When he finally disappears for a very long time and shows no signs of resurfacing, Lynne, close to hypothermia and discouraged, decides to head back to shore, alone.

By now this story is so well known that it gives nothing away to say eventually there is a happy resolution. For Lynne Cox, however, there is a much bigger story than "just" the reunion of the baby and its mother. For her, this experience has been a test of her strength, her will, and her faith, resulting, finally, in her personal triumph.

A morality tale about the interconnections of man and nature, Grayson is full of the "truths" drawn by a sensitive seventeen-year-old who sees the baby whale in human terms. She thinks only positive thoughts, sending mental messages to the baby whale and to his mother, telling them that she will help them find each other. She explains that "there are two ways of thinking--one of possibility and hope, the other of doubt and impossibility," adding that sometimes "the things that make the least sense to other people make the most sense to me."

Thirty years have passed since this experience, the author tells us, and she believes she learned much about life from it, never doubting her romantic conclusions or the words-to-live-by that she presents throughout her narrative. Though the author originally wrote this book for adults, its popularity among junior high students speaks to its appeal. The world she describes is not the nature of "tooth and claw" or the survival of the fittest. It is a world in which humans can interact with nature through positive thoughts and energy, and those, in turn, can reunite a baby whale and its presumably loving mother. n Mary Whipple

A must read!
Champion swimmer Lynne Cox's new memoir Grayson is the powerful and remarkable story of one day in the life of Cox and a baby gray whale she named Grayson. It was an ordinary day that became a race to save the life of the months old baby whale that had been separated from his mother.

While training for a major swimming event, Cox, then age seventeen, was swimming off Seal Beach in southern California. It was early morning (5:00 a.m.) and Cox wanted to start practice early so she could spend the day with friends. As she neared the finish of her practice she felt an unusual and unfamiliar presence in the water with her. It soon became apparent that a baby whale was following her. Although Cox was tired, she couldn't leave the water because the whale would follow her onto shore and die.

Cox, with help from her old friend Steve, made plans to find Grayson's mother. Time was of the essence as baby whales drink over 50 gallons of milk a day and are completely dependant on their mothers. If Grayson's mother were not found soon, he would die. But mother whales are very protective and Cox's life is jeopardized by helping Grayson. With little thought for her personal safety, Cox and Grayson start a race for life.

Grayson is a beautiful story told with deep love and emotion for Grayson and the experience. Cox's writing is lyrical, motivational and expressive. Her words are so 'right on' that you feel you are in the water searching, playing and living, along with the swimmer and whale.

Armchair Interviews says: Grayson is a must read. Your heart will sing and you'll want to share the experience with others.

Tries too hard
Lynne Cox had an amazing and rare wildlife opportunity and experience--there's no doubt about it. Unfortunately, she either couldn't find the right words or thought using more flowery, mystical imagery would enhance her telling of her encounter. Her first-hand retelling is interesting, but it's not altogether engaging or well written. It's like her story telling is weighing down the actual experience. I'd recommend the book to others, but I'd share my copy rather than telling anyone to buy it new.