Our Story

 

The Novel Narwhal

The Novel Narwhal is a women-owned pop-up and online bookstore based out of Roanoke, Texas. We sell books and gifts for kids, grown-ups, and everyone in between.

We believe:

Reading should be fun

  • There's a book for everyone, and we want to help you find it
  • Fun mail is awesome. Everyone should send and receive more fun mail (ask us if you want to know more about fun mail)
  • Shopping local benefits more than just the business owners
  • Customer relations are critical
  • It never hurts to ask

The "Narwhalls"

Kelli Whall

Kelli, raised in Illinois and turned Texas by way of a few other states, has always been an avid reader with a love of celebrity biographies, young adult fiction, and cookbooks. Career-wise, she has worked in campus recreation, corporate communications, and most recently, the coffee retail industry. With the Novel Narwhal, she is most excited to connect with adults and kids over a love of books, funny cards, meaningful gifts, and community pride.

Melissa Whall

Melissa grew up outside of Boston and has lived in Texas for 20+ years, somehow without a distinct accent from either. While reading is not high on her list of favorite things to do, she more than makes up for it with her ability to pick out the best cards, keep plants alive, and identify customer needs. Melissa could tell you all about her career in finance, home security, and solar energy, but she'd much rather discuss plants, music, and travel. She loves that The Novel Narwhal is a business with humor, cleverness, and service, and looks forward to meeting you at our events!

Kelli and Melissa are the proud parents of 11-year-old twins who you will see hanging out at the pop-ups, participating in and leading story times, and generally being awesome. When they are not working at the Novel Narwhal, the Narwhalls enjoy road trips, musicals, playing board games, and watching live sports (Go Wings!).

How we started:

When traveling, Kelli and Melissa like to visit (and support) independent bookstores. After one trip, they realized their town of Roanoake, Texas did not have an independent bookstore, but did have the perfect community for one - constantly growing, full of families, and centered by a strong school system. Discussion followed and The Novel Narwhal turned from dream to reality with their first pop-up booth at the Roanoke Hometown Holiday event in December of 2022.

Why the narwhal?

The narwhal is the owners' family mascot. Kelli, Melissa, and the kids are a blended family and, when their last names are combined, it almost makes the word "narwhal". Plus, narwhals are crazy clever, a little weird, and never found in captivity which is basically the vibe we're going for. At least until we get a brick-and-mortar store.