I Am Toki

This had a message to tell and thought it was executed well, it adds to the glimpse of captive sea-animals and does a great job in making you think. I thought the overall feel worked and had that element that the children's fiction genre perfectly. Gianni Perticaroli has a great writing style and would read more in this world and author.

“I Am Toki” by Gianni Perticaroli is a children’s/ preteen fiction book told from the perspective of Toki, a captive orca that lives at Miami Seaquarium which is based on real events. This book follows the story of Toki, from the beginning of her life being born in the ocean to liiving a normal life with her pod, to the day she was brutally captured and stolen from her family. This story follows Toki as she is transported to Miami Seaquarium showing us what her daily routine consists of, as well as the hardships she faces everyday. It shows us how brave and courageous Toki was and what she had to endure, all in a very unique way. At the end of the story, the author has done a fabulous job of providing factual information on all things Orcas, as well as addressing and exposing the truth of what actually happened in Tokitae’s life at Miami Seaquarium.

Although this book is targeted to the audience of children, there is a message that all audiences can take from this story. I believe that because the author has told the story from the perspective of Tokitae the orca, the book is more fun, engaging and understandable for children audiences. This book does an amazing job of covering the very important issue of cetaceans in captivity. I thoroughly enjoyed this book as an adult, and know that I would have devoured it as a child. The author has done a fabulous job of mixing facts with fiction and using her voice to speak for the voiceless who are so routinely taken advantage of.

4*
A solid story, well told, with a serious message behind it.

'I am Toki' is a powerful and heartwarming story about the life of Tokitae the orca, who lives in captivity in the Miami Seaquarium. Toki shares a cramped tank with Li'l, a dolphin, and is visited too by other animals and performs alongside her human trainers. Life is boring, lonely and horribly bleak.

I really liked this book. I think that the way the story is told --obvious, upsetting trauma muffled by 50 years of boredom and depression -- makes this book perfect for middle grade readers to understand and empathise with all of the events and to see things in long-term perspective. The book is very educational; there is a lot to take away factually and emotionally and conveys a strong message which sat with me long after I finished reading.

I thought the writing was perceptive and evocative and I was truly upset at times by the events of the book, which is, heartbreakingly, a true story.

I wished that, as a reader with little background knowledge of Toki's life, we could have seen more human dialogue. I am thinking back to the part of the book where a character says "I'm in". I would have liked to hear more of that conversation to understand the implications of the events in more depth.

Nevertheless, I would recommend this book to not just middle-grade readers but for anyone.

Thank you to Sungrazer Publishing and NetGalley for providing an advance reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a children's middle grade novel but I actually think it's well worth a read for older teens and adults, it's got a very powerful and profound message. It is based on the powerful true story of an orca whale kept in captivity at the Miami Aquarium. We follow Toki from her beginnings in the ocean with her pod to the day she's brutally stolen from her family, we see her transported to the aquarium where she's stuck in a tiny pool and lives a boring and tragic life there for decades. The story is told entirely from Toki's perspective which made it very engaging and at the end Perticaroli shared a bunch of facts about orcas and exposing the truth of what happened to Toki in Miami.

4.0 ⭐

"I Am Toki" touched my heart in ways I didn't expect.
The writing is simple yet poignant. Experiencing the story from Toki's perspective allowed me to connect with her world in a unique way. What surprised me the most was learning that this story is based on true events; I didn't realize it until the end.
I highly recommend adding this to your bookshelf!