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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
Another book from grade school that has stuck with me through the years. My 5th grade teacher gave me a copy of this book for my 11th birthday, and I still have it.
It was surprisingly good. It made me really hungry for seafood. And I'd be very interested to read a sequel about her life after she was saved. It would be probably sad but mostly interesting to see how a girl who learned to be so self sufficient adjusted to "civilized" society.
I'd read it again.
I'd read it again.
Another Read Harder Challenge book.
I really liked this story but it's always challenging for me to listen to a story about a strong girl/woman with the ever present patriarchal undertones. I don't know if the patriarchal comments are meant to be true to the character, as this is based on a real story, or if it's an inevitable result of having a white man in the sixties for an author.
Given the era and the fact that it's a story about a real woman that lived in a patriarchal society, I'm inclined to give it a pass. I don't know that I would want to let a hypothetical child of mine read this with out pointing out the (wrong!) subtle message that women can achieve great but limited accomplishments.
There is one particular line that encompasses this message, it refers to a canoe being too heavy for a girl to push, "even a girl as strong as [her]," referring to the main character. That line made me consider the rest of the book and its underlying theme that women are limited purely by their gender. Not exactly in line with my feminism.
I really liked this story but it's always challenging for me to listen to a story about a strong girl/woman with the ever present patriarchal undertones. I don't know if the patriarchal comments are meant to be true to the character, as this is based on a real story, or if it's an inevitable result of having a white man in the sixties for an author.
Given the era and the fact that it's a story about a real woman that lived in a patriarchal society, I'm inclined to give it a pass. I don't know that I would want to let a hypothetical child of mine read this with out pointing out the (wrong!) subtle message that women can achieve great but limited accomplishments.
There is one particular line that encompasses this message, it refers to a canoe being too heavy for a girl to push, "even a girl as strong as [her]," referring to the main character. That line made me consider the rest of the book and its underlying theme that women are limited purely by their gender. Not exactly in line with my feminism.
Quite a good short book for youth about a solo native woman living on her island for 18 years alone. This concludes my series on childhood books. Next up: dune!!
I've decided to revisit a bunch of my childhood favorites, especially those that deal with wilderness survival.
Karana was such an inspiration to me as a little girl, and after re-reading this I can reconfirm that she deserves her childhood heroine status.
I am surprised how many parts of this book I had forgotten (the earthquake and tsunami, the cave with the mannequin-like figures) given how many times I read this book as a kid.
Karana was such an inspiration to me as a little girl, and after re-reading this I can reconfirm that she deserves her childhood heroine status.
I am surprised how many parts of this book I had forgotten (the earthquake and tsunami, the cave with the mannequin-like figures) given how many times I read this book as a kid.
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I listened as an audiobook as my bedtime book. Strongly recommend, narration is phenomenal
I read this in elementary school and remember I loved it.
emotional
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It's good to know some aspects of my tastes haven't changed since I was a kid. Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell probably wouldn't have been my cup of tea as a kid and it still wasn't my thing. Don't get me wrong, this is not a criticism of the writing this book simply wasn't for me. As a general rule, though I will admit to a few exceptions, books about solitary people surviving in the wild just don't really interest me and I found myself mostly just bored by this book. So far, my son said he likes it, so I will be curious to see how he feels about it in the end.