Jean Craighead George's 'Ice Whale' will be posthumously released this April
Before her death in 2012, 鈥淢y Side of the Mountain鈥� and "Julie of the Wolves" author Jean Craighead George was working on a children鈥檚 novel titled 鈥淚ce Whale,鈥� which follows the relationship between a bowhead whale and Eskimos in Alaska.
And now readers will get to peruse what may be the legendary children鈥檚 author鈥檚 last work, with 鈥淲hale鈥� set to be released on April 3, according to the publisher. George鈥檚 children Twig George and Craig George worked with the author鈥檚 editor Lucia Monfried to finish the novel and ready it for publication.
Monfried told how Jean Craighead George had already worked with Craig George on the book 鈥� Craig George is a biologist and his mother had wanted to discuss the science of the book with him. Meanwhile, Twig George is a writer herself.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 need to convince them,鈥� Monfried said of Jean Craighead George鈥檚 children. 鈥淚 knew they would want to do this for their mother.鈥�
Craig George told PW that he remembered when his mother came up with the idea for 鈥淲hale.鈥� He had shared with her that he had found out that bowhead whales could live for 200 years.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 all Mom needed to hear for her to spin a story around it,鈥� he said. 鈥淪he had the idea of following a bowhead through seven or eight generations of a family.鈥�
Twig George said she found working on the book with Craig and Monfried to be a great experience.
鈥淲e tried to keep Mom鈥檚 words whenever possible 鈥� her descriptions are so beautiful,鈥� she told PW. 鈥淪he was amazing, and working on her book was like being with her again.鈥�
鈥淲hale鈥� will be released by Dial Books for Young Readers.
