Book Club Kit

1. Which character do you most relate to and why? Which character do you least relate to and why?

2. How do the characters see themselves? How do others see them?

3. Why does Carla, the main character, believe what she believes about the world? Who or what shapes her beliefs?

4. What kinds of challenges does Carla face? How does she deal with these challenges? What words of advice do you have for her? 

5. How does Carla navigate the tension between her desire to push people away and her need to collaborate for the sake of the whales? 

6. What kinds of power do characters in the book have? How does the amount of power each character has, or feels like they have, influence their choices and decision-making?

7. How did Carla change or grow throughout the story?

8. How did the secondary characters impact or influence Carla or story?

9. How much did you know about this book before picking it up? What surprised you the most about the book?

10. How thought-provoking did you find the book?  Did the book change your opinion about anything, or did you learn something new from it? If so, what? 

11. How, if at all, did this book relate to your own life?  Did it evoke any memories or create any connections for you?

12. How does this book reflect or not reflect your own identity or lived experiences? 

13. What social issues are explored in the book?  What message does the book send about one or more of these issues? 

14. What does this book say about the world today? 

15. What lessons can you take from this book into your own life?

Listen to some of Carla's favorite songs!

Alice in Chains — “Angry Chair”

The Stooges — “I Wanna Be Your Dog”

Screaming Trees — “Nearly Lost You”

Meat Puppets — “Backwater”

Screeching Weasel — “My Brain Hurts”

Screeching Weasel — “What We Hate”

Nirvana — “Drain You”

Stiff Little Fingers — “Wasted Life”

Bad Religion — “Struck a Nerve”

Black Flag — “Rise Above” 

Minor Threat — “Stand Up”

Ramones — “I Don’t Wanna Go Down to the Basement”

Social Distortion — “Mommy’s Little Monster”

Social Distortion — “Story of My Life

The Casualties — “For the Punx”

Dead Milkmen — “Punk Rock Girl”

Smoking Popes — “My Lucky Day”

Lifetime — “25 Cent Giraffes”

Subhumans — “It’s Gonna Get Worse”

The Germs — “Get a Grip”

  Six-Week Bran Muffins

1 15-16 oz. package bran flake cereal

2 cups sugar

5 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 ½ cups flour

2 ½ cups whole wheat flour

1 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs, beaten

1 qt. buttermilk

In a very large bowl, mix cereal, sugar, soda, salt, and flours. Stir in oil, eggs, and milk. Mix until moistened. Store in a tightly covered container in the fridge for up to 6 weeks. To bake, fill greased muffin tins full. Bake at 425 for 20-25 minutes. Makes about 3 dozen muffins.

Pumpkin-Raisin Bread

½ cup vegetable oil

½ cup applesauce

3 eggs

2/3 cup water

2 cups (1 can) pumpkin

3 ½ cups flour

1 ½ tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. cinnamon

2 cups sugar

½ cup raisins

½ cup chopped walnuts

Grease and flour 3 loaf pans. Heat oven to 350. Mix first 5 ingredients in a bowl. Mix next 6 ingredients in another bowl. Combine and add raisins and nuts. Pour into prepared pans and bake 1 hour.

Scottish Oat Scones

1 1/2 cup flour

1 1/4 cup old-fashioned oatmeal

1/4 cup sugar

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cream of tartar

1/2 tsp. salt

2/3 cup butter, melted

1/3 cup milk

1 egg, beaten to blend

1/2 cup raisins or currants

Preheat oven to 425. Grease cookie sheet or line with parchment paper. Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. In another bowl, mix butter, milk, and egg. Add to dry ingredients and stir until moistened. Mix in raisins. Shape dough into a ball. Place on lightly floured surface. Pat out to form a ¾-inch thick circle. Cut into 8 wedges. Bake on prepared sheet 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Carrot-Pineapple Muffins

1 ¼ cups whole wheat flour

1 cup sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1 ½ tsp. baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp. salt

4 eggs

¾ cup vegetable oil

4 oz. crushed pineapple

3 cups shredded carrots

Preheat oven to 350. Grease muffin tins. In a bowl, mix first 6 ingredients well. Add oil and eggs; mix slowly for a few seconds. Add carrots and pineapple; mix for a few more seconds. Do not overmix. Fill muffin tins 2/3 full and bake 15-20 minutes until dark brown.

A movie that begins with the phrase “based on a true story” always gets my attention. As I watch, I wonder what parts are true, what was omitted, and how much was invented. In the Company of Whales is based on actual events. For readers curious about what really happened, here you go.

On October 21, 1997, a pod of nineteen orcas was spotted in Dyes Inlet, located near the Kitsap Peninsula of Washington State. None had been seen there for over forty years, and never more than a few at a time. To reach the inlet, they had come through Puget Sound and up the Port Washington Narrows, passing under two high bridges. The whales left together a month later. No one knows why they stayed so long, and no one knows why they left.

The local newspaper, The Sun, renamed Kitsap Sun in 2005, ran daily stories about the whales. Television news crews and reporters from the Seattle papers covered the story too. Word spread nationally. Over the thirty-day period, tens of thousands of people came to see the pod for themselves, overwhelming the town of Bremerton which at that time had a population of 37,000. 

Letters to the editor revealed community members’ opposing views about the whales’ presence. The influx of visitors created heavy traffic resulting in some minor accidents but also increased business for hotels, restaurants, and gas stations. Tour companies packed their boats with whale watchers. Outdoor outfitters rented their full inventory of kayaks and canoes. Entrepreneurial residents sold cold drinks out of ice chests, charged fees to park on their property, and sold commemorative T-shirts. Others complained about cars blocking their driveways, people urinating in their yards, and the disruption to their quiet way of life. 

Among the visitors were scientists taking advantage of the unique opportunity to study orcas up close. One group of marine biologists arrived by boat from the Center for Whale Research (CWR) on San Juan Island, about fifty nautical miles away. For years, they had been tracking, photographing, and recording the larger group of whales called the Southern Residents that includes this pod. 

Weeks passed and the scientists, who were on the water almost daily, began to see troubling signs. The orcas were likely running low on salmon, their preferred food, and were behaving in ways that indicated stress, possibly caused by heavy boat traffic. One Sunday in early November, an estimated 500 boats were in the inlet, more than four times the previous record. 

Debates began to surface among the experts: Was an intervention needed or was it best to continue observing the whales, hoping they would resolve the situation on their own? Theories also emerged regarding the whales’ observed reluctance to cross under the Warren Avenue Bridge, the four-lane highway that stretched across the Narrows connecting East Bremerton to Bremerton. Each time an orca approached the bridge, it turned back, rejoining the others in an inlet that couldn’t support the pod’s needs. Some believed the bridge created a psychological barrier caused by the vibrations from heavier than normal traffic. 

On November 19, a cold and rainy day, one boat carrying several CWR researchers and a second with scientists from the National Marine Fisheries were near the Warren Avenue Bridge. They witnessed events unfold. Faith, a big male, and Ankh, the matriarch, dove under the water and surfaced on the other side of the bridge. The others followed except for two—Ophelia and her calf, Nerka. Canuck, an older female, seemed to wait for them as the rest of the pod continued toward open water. Then Cetus, Nerka’s older brother, swam back. Together, the four remaining whales made a dive that lasted for two very long minutes. They finally surfaced a mile away near the Manette Bridge.

The biologists followed the pod, watching as one by one the orcas moved closer to Rich Passage leading to Puget Sound. The two researchers from the CWR recounted the most memorable moment—Faith emerging from the water and swimming slowly alongside their boat, only ten feet away. He then turned on his side and looked directly at them as he passed.

The rest of the novel was a product of my imagination. A pretty yellow house sits where I built the fictional Coffee Spot. There is no pier or dock there, only a concrete boat ramp. And, most importantly, the orcas left on their own. Quietly. With no human intervention.

Where are they now, those nineteen orcas? I am happy to report that as of this writing, twenty-eight years after the events described above, five are still alive. That’s the good news. The bad news: the Southern Resident orcas are critically endangered. Several organizations are conducting ongoing research and working diligently to reverse this. 

To learn more about the orcas of the Pacific Northwest, visit:

The Center for Whale Research https://www.whaleresearch.com/

Orca Lab https://orcalab.org/orcas/

Orca Conservancy https://www.orcaconservancy.org/