Island of the Blue Dolphins
Author(s): Scott O'Dell
1961 Newbery Medal Winner
Far off the coast of California looms a harsh rock known as the island of San Nicholas. Dolphins flash in the blue waters around it, sea otter play in the vast kep beds, and sea elephants loll on the stony beaches.
Here, in the early 1800s, according to history, an Indian girl spent eighteen years alone, and this beautifully written novel is her story. It is a romantic adventure filled with drama and heartache, for not only was mere subsistence on so desolate a spot a near miracle, but Karana had to contend with the ferocious pack of wild dogs that had killed her younger brother, constantly guard against the Aleutian sea otter hunters, and maintain a precarious food supply.
More than this, it is an adventure of the spirit that will haunt the reader long after the book has been put down. Karana's quiet courage, her Indian self-reliance and acceptance of fate, transform what to many would have been a devastating ordeal into an uplifting experience. From loneliness and terror come strength and serenity in this Newbery Medal-winning classic.
Review(s):
"Years of research must have gone into this book to turn historical fact into so moving and lasting an experience."
"A haunting and unusual story based on the fact that in the early 1800s an Indian girl spent eighteen years alone on a rocky island far off the coast of California. A quiet acceptance of fate characterizes her ordeal."
"Island of the Blue Dolphins is a unique story about a young Nicoleno girl named Karana who learned how to survive on an island by herself. This book continues to be a source of empowerment and adventure to any reader who decides to follow Karana’s story."
Newbery Medal, Nene Award (Hawaii), William Allen White Children's Book Award (Kansas), Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children’s Book Award (Vermont), Lewis Carroll Shelf Award
ISBN: 9780395069622