When my daughter was assigned this book for fifth grade reading, I was happy to read it. I enjoy history and have a special interest in Native American history. I thought this would be an interesting story, even though it is a fictionalized account.
Not so much. Besides the real story, itself, I found this book to be pretty boring. So did my daughter. And it wasn’t the tedium of being stuck on an island, alone, for years…
The true story goes like this: after a small Native American tribe that lives on a harsh island far off the coast of California is threatened and then decimated by otter hunters, they decide to flee on a missionary ship. It is the 1800s, and as they pull out into the difficult waters, one of the girls/young women doesn’t make it on to the boat. She is stranded on the island for 18 years by herself, until rescued and taken to the mainland to be reunited with her people, who are very few. This is all historical fact, but little else is known about the woman, known as Juana Maria.
In the 1960s, Scott O’Dell, a children’s novelist who specialized in California history, re-imagined the life of Juana Maria, fleshing out the details in what would become a Newbery Medal winner titled Island of the Blue Dolphins. Most of the account is made-up, but, of course, O’Dell used what he could discover about the tribe, times, and place. He makes Juana younger (probably for his audience) and explains her being stranded on her mischievous little brother. He also adds a dog character, which is a brilliant way to inject action into the story, explore Juana’s (called Karana in the book) humanity, and show her growth.
I can understand why you would have a child read this story, because it is interesting and informative, exposing them to several different things at once. The writing is clear, but, as I said, I just found the book to be boring. Now, I have read other stories about people being stranded alone (Death Watch, Selkirk’s Island, etc.), and of course this singularity poses a problem for an author. It’s hard to make anything interesting happen with only one character. But it has been done, and it needs to be done. I just don’t think O’Dell got there, and not because of the story. It was more his timing, his inclusion and exclusion of certain details, and pacing.
I also found that through the simplistic writing, Karana came off a little flat and unintentionally portrayed as unintelligent. Her resourcefulness and resilience is interesting, and possibly even empowering for readers, but her plodding along really made me feel like I, too, was plodding along.
I would not discourage you from trying out this quick read, but I would not put it at the top of my reading list unless I was obsessed with survival stories or California or Native American history.
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I read Island of the Blue Dolphins, by Scott O’Dell, the HMH Book for Children version from 2010. It was originally published in 1960.
the starving artist 
As a 5th grade teacher one of my joys was to read the books that the students read. Somehow I just never got to that one although the title intrigued me, so I’m glad to see a review on it. It seems there may even have been a movie made about it, too. Perhaps you could write a survival story, Devon.
I remember loving this story when I was in elementary school!
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We had to read this book in sixth grade. The only thing I remember about it is how thoroughly bored I was with it. Having to read books like this, I can see why I turned to non-fiction for reading in my free time in eighth grade. After that, the only fiction I read was the stuff that was assigned.
This book did bore me too, but I have found many, many, MANY more fiction books over the years that have been anything but boring. Maybe you could try a few, now? There’s a list of my recommendations under the Pick Up a Book Tab, by genre, but scroll through other reviews online to get a feel for which ones really fit you. I’m sure there are many.
This is a title that regularly appears on “Gen X” Facebook pages to make us feel nostalgic for the things we did as kids, which typically included reading this book in the fourth or fifth grade. I’m always shocked to see how many people say this was a favorite book of theirs in the 1970s or 1980s. I couldn’t wait to be done with it! Tbh, I was an eager reader as a kid and generally enjoyed reading, but I thought this was the most boring, slow-paced book I’d ever read. Growing up in coastal Southern California, they tied it into our studies of local tribes. The social studies lessons were fine. The book was a dreadful bore to me. Glad to see I’m not alone!
Island of the Blue Dolphins was a classic! Loved it, but was creeped out!! Hate it when people die. Overall, great.
Oh thank God I am not alone. I am a homeschooling mother and was given a book activity report for free on this book. I am dragging through it. My 10 year old is somehow paying attention to it while my eyes are glazing over as I read. I am going to finish it and put it into the donation box. Good riddance. I won’t do it again with my other two children. Life is too short to reread crappy books.