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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
Quite interesting, it's done very well and has some neat history about the actual Island in the Author's Note
Read this with the boys and they really enjoyed it, especially once they learned that the story was based on a real person! A great piece of literature for kids that opens their eyes to a completely separate life/time from their own.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
I saw this mentioned in a blog post this week, and did not recall reading it yet it sounded right up my alley from books I enjoyed as a kid, so I picked it up and read it this weekend. It does indeed fall into the books that I read and enjoyed as a kid, including Hatchet, Julie and the Wolves, The Sign of the Beaver, Robinson Crusoe, The Swiss Family Robinson, and probably others I'm not recalling at the moment. As I read through it I realized I did read it previously, but I still enjoyed the re-read as it's been more than twenty (possibly closer to thirty) years since I read it.
The story is that of a native woman who is left behind on her island when the rest of her village leaves with the help of some white men, and is based on a true story. Her strength in surviving the hardships that she faces, even turning some of them into strengths, is simple and matter-of-fact and thus quite powerful. She is sad and misses her family and her people, occasionally despairs when she is hurt or sick, but does not wallow and gets on with the business of living and doing so quite well given her situation. There are minor adventures, renegade hunters to avoid, and eventually rescue by another ship of white men who find her on the island many years after her village had left.
This is a solid book, and one I'd recommend to anyone with a tween. With hindsight, however, this may be one of a class of books that has sent me down the road of post-apocalyptic fiction, so do keep that minor danger in mind. :)
The story is that of a native woman who is left behind on her island when the rest of her village leaves with the help of some white men, and is based on a true story. Her strength in surviving the hardships that she faces, even turning some of them into strengths, is simple and matter-of-fact and thus quite powerful. She is sad and misses her family and her people, occasionally despairs when she is hurt or sick, but does not wallow and gets on with the business of living and doing so quite well given her situation. There are minor adventures, renegade hunters to avoid, and eventually rescue by another ship of white men who find her on the island many years after her village had left.
This is a solid book, and one I'd recommend to anyone with a tween. With hindsight, however, this may be one of a class of books that has sent me down the road of post-apocalyptic fiction, so do keep that minor danger in mind. :)
I think I missed the boat on this one (well, me and her both!). It's not the book's fault, it's the teachers that never had me read it! And then mine for waiting until I was 35 to pick it up.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I remember one of my teachers reading this to the class in elementary school and I just loved it!
I loved O'Dell's books as a kid. this one sticks out and I still remember the main character's attempts to keep herself alive living off the land.