The Island of the Blue Dolphins was one of the first novels I ever read, and its descriptions still linger vividly in my imagination. My goal in presenting good, clean young adult fiction that is optimistic and fun. If the book builds good character, that’s a plus as well. With this goal in mind, I had to have a review of this book because it fit my criteria perfectly.
The thing that attracted me to this Newberry winner was its cover. I loved reading about native Americans at the time and this fit the bill. I had no idea what the story was about besides that. It turns out, it was an amazing book… before my dog ate it and I had to pay the library back for its remains.
The Island of the Blue Dolphins is about an Indian girl, Karana, who gets abandoned on an island in the Pacific. She discovers the skills needed to live alone for years. Think Robinson Crusoe or The Hatchet type of survival story. It is only now in writing this review that I discovered this book is based on a real story. This preteen girl must build a shelter and fight off wild dogs, find food, and grieve over the death of her brother. This story is extremely well written, and as a child, I couldn’t put it down.
The book is clean of cursing and sex (of course). The only violence is the wild dogs and hunting. There is some native superstition at the beginning about women not using weapons, but that gets thrown away quickly with little religious thought afterward. I highly recommend this book to those old enough to read novels and older.
I didn’t know until now that there is a sequel to this book that follows Karana’s niece years later. It may be good as well, but I have never read it.
Check out my young adult fantasy fiction novels HERE for something optimistic and fun.
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What do you think?