Little Whale

A Story of the Last Tlingit War Canoe

by Peratrovich, Roy A. Jr.

Keet, a ten-year-old Tlingit Indian boy, stows away for a voyage on his father’s canoe . . . and soon finds himself caught in the middle of a wild seastorm. The storm carries him far from his home village, and when he makes land, he winds up right in the middle of a dangerous dispute between two Indian clans. The story of how he copes with these sur- prises and extricates himself from dan- ger is dramatic and unforgettable.

And it’s mostly true. Roy A. Peratrovich, Jr. builds a wonderful children’s tale on the bones of a story his own grandfather passed down. His accompanying illustrations bring the people and landscapes of Alaska—to say nothing of the adventures!—to stunning life, drawing young readers into a long-gone time when the whims of nature and man could suddenly test a boy’s courage.

Roy A. Peratrovich, Jr. is a Tlingit Indian from southeastern Alaska, where his parents were well-known Alaska Native civil rights leaders.