Title: Island of the Blue DolphinsAuthor: Scott O'Dell
Series: Island of the Blue Dolphins #1
First Published: September 9, 1960
Publisher: Clarion Books
Pages: 192
Genre: Children's, Historical Fiction
Format: Hardcover
Source: Gift
Rating:
Synopsis:
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.
Buy the Book: AmazonReview
Island of the Blue Dolphins holds a special place in my heart for being my favorite book when I was a kid. It was gifted to me in elementary school when I lived in Hawaii and I can’t count the number of times that I read it, this was one of the books that got me into reading.
The story follows a young girl named Karana as she learns to survive on her own. Facing certain death, her tribe flees the island and Karana is left behind. The story has plenty of adventure as Karana fights to survive, learning how to be resourceful – hunting for food and gathering material for clothing and shelter. She survives on what she can while dealing with wild dogs and other dangerous creatures on the island. Where this book really shines is how the writing managed to portray Karana’s feelings of isolation and loneliness which really struck a chord with me as a kid.
The book is inspired by The Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island: Juana Maria, a Nicoleño Native American left alone on San Nicolas Island for 18 years. She was the last surviving member of her tribe and died after she was brought stateside. Not much else is known about her, as she was the last known speaker of the Nicoleño language. This book isn’t perfect and many gaps were filled in with dated assumptions about Native people, and for those reasons it has not aged well. Still, I can still appreciate the impact that the book had on me and many others that grew up reading it.
Quote
“More than anything, it was the blue dolphins that took me back home.”
Content Warnings
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About Scott O’Dell
Scott O’Dell was an American author of 26 novels for young people, along with three novels for adults and four nonfiction books. He wrote historical fiction, primarily, including several children’s novels about historical California and Mexico.
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