Book Summary: Karana's people are leaving their island to head east but her brother Ramos left his fishing gear and goes back for it. Karana gets off the boat to go find her brother and while they are gone they realize they've been left behind. Karana and her brother are left to fend entirely for themselves. Ramos is attacked and killed by the pack of wild dogs on the island and Karana finds herself entirely alone on the island. She tames a wild dog and names him Rontu while she learns how to survive. Years later a group of Aleuts comes to the island and Karana hides in a cave but makes friends with a girl. When the girl and the rest of the Aleuts leave she realizes how lonely she is. Years later a ship comes and docks on the island and Karana dresses in her best dress and goes to meet the people- ready to be with humans and she finds out the fate that became of her tribespeople.
APA Reference: O'Dell, Scott. (1960). Island of the blue dolphins. New York, NY: HMH Books.
Impressions: I couldn't put it down! As I was reading it made me wonder as to the truth of this story. I did some quick research and learned that in the 1800's there was a real girl who was left behind on her island. That made me love the story even more - knowing that as it was a fictional account of a true story had me dying to get to the end to see if she was ever going to be reunited with her tribespeople. I was disappointed at the end that there was not athe big happy ending like I was so desperately wanting for our Karana. I also enjoyed how descriptive the text was- it was very easy for me to visualize what was going on even if I had no context for it.
Professional Review: This book is a true story about a 12 year old girl called Karana who is stranded on an island and has to work out how to survive. Her main enemies on the island are the wild dogs and she lives in fear of the Aleuts (a tribe who arrive on the island to hunt seals).
We loved learning about survival with no tools except those you make from the materials around you and the way that Karana found enough food to eat. The book was sad in some parts but it only went to show you how tough Karana was.
We admired Karana's hard work, she never gives up. She did become lonely and through her loneliness we noticed that she overcame the fear of her enemies and actually changed. Her relationship with her dog was an important part of the book for us. Her attitude to the animals around her changed too, she starts off seeing them as materials to be used to make clothes or tools and of course to eat. As she becomes older and lonelier she changes and they become her friends. She then has to adapt how she lives.
This book was not an easy read, it took some concentration to read but the story carried us along and the struggle for survival provided plenty of suspense and thrills to keep us turning the pages.
(2013). [Review of Island of the blue dolphins]. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2013/jun/21/review-island-blue-dolphins-scott-o-dell
Library Uses: This would be wonderful for learning about survival without modern day tools. It would be great for learning about perseverance and not giving up when things are difficult. I could also see it introducing some research if the students are interested in learning about the truth behind the story.
