Scott O'Dell

Island of the Blue Dolphins

Records the courage and self-reliance of an Indian girl who lived alone for eighteen years on an isolated island off the California coast when her tribe emigrated and she was left behind.

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3.5 ★ - (liked it)


CWs, or things that caught my attention: being left behind

Sarah Sammis

I reread Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell for the BookCrossing Literacy Train. It was nice to go back to this award winner with an adult pair of eyes and experiences to better understand the story. I know it's written for the 9 to 12 set but when I was that age it went right over my head.

When I had to read it for school in fifth or six grade I remember not liking it because it didn't seem real to me. I don't remember if our teacher told us about the history behind the book or not but I couldn't believe that California had islands off the coast.

Island of the Blue Dolphins is still a rather sparse narrative since the bulk of it covers the eighteen years that Karana spends alone. This time however I was able to enjoy the historical setting and the way in which San Nicholas Island is described. As an adult I come to the book a course in Channel island biology, four years of living in Santa Barbara and a whole bunch of other experiences that I hadn't had when I first read the book.

Laura Mauler

The fact that this book was based on a true story - this girl was real, she really did live alone for years on an island - makes my mind reel. Almost made me cry. Loved loved loved.

Roland John

Amanda

The way this book had a grip on my soul as a kid.

Vajas Johanna 

Kirsten Simkiss

I remember reading this as a child and I wanted to go back and reread it now as an adult to see if my opinion of it had changed.

The book is very action oriented, being mostly a survival story, and not much time is spent on the feelings of the main character. Actually, most of the story focuses on her finding food and fighting off dogs. So many abalone. I wish there were more character development for the main character. There's not much personality to her, unfortunately. It is very culture rich, however, featuring a native culture most American students wouldn't be familiar with.

It may have won an award, but if it were up to me, I likely would have given it to someone else. This book doesn't seem that fantastic to me in any particular way.

Ashley Wendt

I loved that just as much as I loved it when I was younger. The resiliency of Karana and her relationship with the island and the animals of the island is still so beautiful and oddly soothing.

Shannon Leigh Williams

I've read & reread this book more times than I can count! It's one of my absolute favorites. :) I first found it when I was about 9 & I still love to go back & reread this!

Jess Madson

Toni Turner

This book was required reading when I was in grade school and I have thought about it a lot over the years. I'm really glad I re-read it. There was a lot I didn't remember..weirdly enough I remember the authors note pretty well haha

Destiny J Tamayo

*3.5*

I really enjoyed this novel. I loved the relationship that she developed with her environment although the ending left me wanting more.

Natalie

I remember reading this book several times as a child and being absolutely fascinated by it! It’s such a great book!

Andrea Badgley

I came to Island of the Blue Dolphins when I reached California, the fifth state on my Andrea Reads America literary tour of the United States. Because I am progressing through the states alphabetically, I arrived in California after spending several weeks in Arizona and Arkansas, and I was parched for a new experience. Island of the Blue Dolphins, with its gulls and sea spray, its abalone and kelp, was like a cool draft of water on a dry, dusty throat; it quenched my thirst.

I grew up on an island off the coast of Georgia (USA), and I am shocked that I never read this book as a young girl. It is the story of Karana, a native girl living with her people on an island off the California coast, the Island of the Blue Dolphins (San Nicolas Island, about 75 miles southwest of Los Angeles) who comes to live on the island alone after a series of tragic events. The narrative is emotionally detached and the tragic events are not graphically described, so the book would not be too traumatic for children.

What I loved about this book is that the descriptions of her life on the island are vivid and beautiful: I could hear the gulls and the crashing waves, I could smell the kelp and the sea air, I could taste the fish and the salt and the wind. The Island of the Blue Dolphins was exactly what I needed after being landlocked in the dusty desert of Arizona and the cotton fields of Arkansas. I may have to buy a copy "for my daughter" to keep around the house.

From the author's note: "The island called in this book the Island of the Blue Dolphins was first settled by Indians in about 2000 B.C, but it was not discovered by white men until 1602...The girl Robinson Crusoe whose story I have attempted to re-create actually lived alone upon this island from 1835 to 1853, and is know to history as The Lost Woman of San Nicolas."

The adventures of a young Indian girl, living alone off the coast of California on the Island of San Nicholas in the early 1800's.

Carla Aquino

This was a reread! 
A childhood favorite of mine that brought back so many memories of me with my mom and little brother at libraries or laying around the house reading. I am forever indebted to my mom for those trips to the local and downtown library! Those days are my most precious memories. Reader for life.....since way before I can even remember; according to my mom.

Rebecca Light

Delightful. In addition to being an enjoyable read, this book is a master class in writing for children. The prose is bare but incredibly effective and active. The simple log of Karana's activities did enough to tell the story without any underlying editorializing from the author. I feel so hypnotized and pulled inward by the narrative, which is I imagine what it might be like to live alone on an island for eighteen years. Definite required reading for all young people, especially young Californians.

Island of the Blue Dolphins

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