12 Daring Grays

Candlewick - 2026

Written by Nora Nickum & Illustrated by Elly MacKay

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Follow a dozen brave gray whales in search of food as they take a high-risk, high-reward 170-mile detour off their already grueling migration route to the Arctic.

In February, some twenty thousand gray whales set off from Baja California on a long, hard journey north, toward food and survival. Hungry and thin, they push on week after week, past California, Oregon, and Washington to the tip of that state, where twelve of them peel off and make an eastward turn into the Salish Sea. There they will wait in the deep for the tide to rise, only to swim into the dangerously shallow waters of a mudflat, hurriedly plowing the bottom for food before the water recedes once more. Will their daring be rewarded? Will they survive to join their fellow whales in the Bering and Chukchi Seas? Elly MacKay’s fluid, saturated artwork sets the stage for the whales’ exciting journey, complementing Nora Nickum’s lyrical, factual narrative. Back matter takes a deeper dive into the intriguing habits of gray whales and offers resources for curious readers.

REVIEWS

*** A Junior Library Guild Selection***

“Nickum’s poetry conveys the story beautifully. . ..With vibrant, mixed-media illustrations, MacKay depicts the lengthy journey and changing settings through a shifting range of shades, mostly pastels. . . . For nonfiction that elicits an emotional investment from readers, this is an excellent purchase for all libraries.”
- STARRED REVIEW, School Library Journal

“Nickum’s quiet, flowing prose sets the scene with vivid, sensory detail. . . . The speckled whales seem ready to splash off the page in each dioramic scene. A stunning and unforgettable journey.”
- STARRED REVIEW, Kirkus

“Young readers and their adults will be equally drawn into this look at the lives of these gentle, clever giants and the underlying theme that sometimes it can be worth it to forge your own path.”
- STARRED REVIEW, Booklist