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G. Jeffrey Ares

For Reading Groups

Book Club Guides

Discussion questions for groups reading the series. Free to use, print, or adapt — no permission needed.

Black Fin cover — an orca's dorsal fin breaking a moonlit ocean surface

Black Fin

Black Fin is told entirely from the point of view of animals — no human ever narrates. These questions work for reading groups of adults or older kids, and roughly follow the order of the story.

  1. The novel opens with Herynn choosing a specific cove to give birth in — for its kelp and its rocky shoreline. What does that opening tell you about how she thinks, before she has said or done anything else?

  2. Okent is separated from his mother within hours of being born. How does the book ask you to feel about Herynn's choice to leave him hidden and face the predators herself?

  3. Babel adopts a calf that isn't hers, and isn't even her species. What does the story suggest motivates her?

  4. Okent spends two seasons among the humpbacks without ever being fully accepted. Have you seen that kind of belonging-but-not-quite elsewhere, in fiction or in life?

  5. When Okent frees Hue from the fishing nets, he has nothing obvious to gain. What changes between them in that moment?

  6. Okent and Hue develop their own way of communicating. What does the book seem to be saying about how understanding actually gets built between two very different creatures?

  7. The story's central discovery is that the greatest threat to sea life comes from above the surface, not below it. How did the book prepare you for that turn?

  8. Humans are present in this story mostly through what they leave behind — nets, boats, debris. Is that more effective than putting human characters on the page? Why?

  9. The ocean itself functions almost as a character. Which moments made it feel most alive to you?

  10. Orcas and humpbacks are not friends in the real world; in some places orcas hunt humpback calves. Does knowing that change how you read Okent and Hue's friendship?

  11. The book ends with the two of them choosing to survive together. What do you think that choice costs each of them?

  12. If the story were told from Herynn's point of view instead of Okent's, what would it be about?

Reading it as a group?

Jeff sometimes joins book clubs by video call to answer questions. If your group is reading the series and you'd like him there, get in touch — pick “Reader” on the form and mention your group.

Invite Jeff to your book club