Songs of the Humpback Whale by Jodi Picoult

I was barely nineteen, a straight-A student fresh out of Wellesley College and in 1976 that was still an accomplishment.

I watched the lights come on in different houses - blue and yellow, blinking like Christmas - and wondered what was happening to me. We lived in a button-down suburb of Boston, and we were waking up the neighbors one by one. Even with my mouth closed, I continued - the high, shrill note of a nocturnal animal. My parents came into the room and put their arms around me they patted my head and smoothed my hair, fine, and I still couldn't stop screaming.

In Rebecca's first chapter, she describes a conversation she has with Sam just prior to heading back to California, regarding Chinese funerals.The night before I got married I woke up, screaming, from my sleep.

What has she learned? What is she in the process of learning?

Rebecca experiences what can be described as a coming of age during the course of the book.

What was the turning point for Oliver in this journey? Do you feel he is sincere in wanting to start over anew with his family? If you feel he is sincere, what words or actions confirmed this for you?.

What has Jane learned about herself along the way? What lessons does she pass on to Rebecca?.

In what ways is this trip a pilgrimage for the characters, both metaphorically and literally? Which character has come the farthest at the end of the book? Why?.

Are the trees metaphorical in any way? If so, what do they represent?

The orchard that Sam owns and operates is described in some detail.

Why does he do this, rather than give her more straight-forward directions? After receiving a call from Jane, who explains that she has left Oliver and needs to see him, Joley gives her some unlikely directions to Massachusetts, with specific stops along the way.How does this affect her relationship with Oliver? with Rebecca? with Joley? Jane grew up at the hands of an abusive father.What is the relevance of Oliver's profession as a prominent oceanographer and authority on tracking whales? How does this play a role in his efforts to find his wife and daughter?.What is the significance of this event and why is it important to the story? The story opens with a prologue in which Rebecca describes the circumstances surrounding a plane crash she survived as a small child.Why might the author have chosen to tell the story in this way? How is it thematically relevant? As the title indicates, Songs of the Humpback Whale is a novel told in five voices.

Songs of the Humpback Whale by Jodi Picoult