Island of the Blue Dolphins
by Scott O'Dell
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Book Reviews of Island of the Blue Dolphins
Book Review: Island of the Blue Dolphins
Summary: 4 Stars
Karana is stranded on an island with her little brother, Ramo, and must craft tools and hunt for the both of them. The ship that they were supposed to be on left and won't be back for a long time. Karana and Ramo see a ship coming towards their island. They notify their father, Chief Chowig, and he along with some warriors greet them. The people on the ship include Captain Orlov and many Aleuts, an American tribe. They have come to hunt sea otters on Ghalas-at and because the Aleuts had caused trouble on the island years before, Captain Orlov and the people of Ghalas-at come to an agreement: Chowig's people will allow the Aleuts to hunt otters if and only if they receive half of their profits in jewelry and iron-spearheads. When Captain Orlov and the Aleuts begin to depart, Chowig and some warriors request their payment. The amount given is unsatisfactory and a fight breaks out. The Aleuts escape and many warriors of Ghalas-at are killed including Chowig. Kimki then comes to power and as the new chief, after a horrible winter, he sets off alone to prepare a new way for them in a country he had visited as a boy. One day a while later, a ship arrives with white men aboard saying that they have been sent by Kimki to take the islanders away. It's a stormy day and the people of Ghalas-at must board quickly. In the rush and confusion, Ramo forgets his hunting spear and goes back to find it. Karana tells him not to but once they're on the ship she can't find Ramo. As the ship is sailing away she sees him back on the island and jumps overboard to swim back to the island. The ship doesn't turn around and sails off to the new country. Karana and Ramo survive on the island for a long time but one day, when Karana wakes up, she can't find Ramo. She looks for him only to find him dead, killed by the pack of wild dogs on the island. Later she seeks revenge and kills some of them and wounding the leader. Days later, she finds the leader again and instead of killing him, she nurses him back to health and names him Rontu. One day, the Aleuts arrive at the island and Karana sets up a second house in a cave. A girl named Tutok finds her and they become good friends, although they can't understand each other's language. When Tutok must leave, loneliness sets in on Karana. She later makes animals friends such as a bird, a fox, and an otter. Years later Rontu dies and Karana sets off to tame his son, who is with the pack of wild dogs still. She succeeds and names him Rontu-Aru. Finally, a ship arrives one day and along with Rontu-Aru, Karana leaves the Island of the Blue Dolphins. This selection is very well thought out and realistic. It is accurately placed in history and takes place in a realistic geographical region. Also, the characters show much personality and have good background. A mix of cultures and heritages resides within Island of the Blue Dolphins too. Anyone would like Island of the Blue Dolphins and it is suitable for all ages.
Karana and Ramo are both very caring and loving towards each other and
will help each other out with anything. Although Karana is older, Ramo still helps with making tools and fixing food. They are native indians of Ghalas-at and descend from a royal bloodline.
The setting of this book is located off the coast of California. It occurs from 1835-1853 and is based on a true story, The Lost Woman of San Nicolas. Great to read because it isn't some science fiction, it really happened and some people can relate to it.
The people of Ghalas-at interact with other types of people. These people include other native american tribes, Russians, and Englishmen/"White Men". This makes Island of the Blue Dolphins very interracial and not focused on one people so much.
Once again, I enjoyed reading this selection and would encourage others of all ages to take time and at least take a peek at its contents.
Book Review: Island of the Blue Dolphins
Summary: 5 Stars
Karana and her brother, Ramo, were looking out into the sea surrounding the somewhat large island they lived on. They saw something that seemed to be what they had imagined from stories to be a ship. Karana and Ramo go through many unspeakably difficult times throughout the book Island of the Blue Dolphins. They strive to survive when they are left alone on the island while the rest were taken off to an unknown place. Island of the Blue Dolphins tells the story about Karana and her tribe having to deal with a Native American tribe called the Aleuts that have come to their island to hunt otter. They offered to split with them a portion of the otter killed but when that becomes unfair to Karana and her family, the Aleuts end up fighting Karana's tribe and killing Karana's father, Chief Chowig. After having their chief killed, their new chief was named Kimki. After an incredibly long winter he decides the best thing for his people to do was to leave Ghalas-at. When they are leaving, Karana cannot find Ramo on the ship so she swims back to the island. From then on it is a struggle for her and her brother to survive. When she finds her brother dead killed by the wild dogs of the island, she is on her own from there forth. Eventually another ship returns and she realizes that it is time to leave the island. This book is a remarkable story and has many unexpected events thrown into it.
The characteristics of the main character in this book is showed throughout all of her actions. For example, when she burns down her village that she grew up in because she does not want to recall the memories of the people she once lived with. Up to that point the author had worked up to showing that she wasn't a weak girl but a strong driven young lady. This event shows that she only wanted to get stronger and use her time on the island not just to stay alive but to grow stronger mentally. When she finds Ramo killed by the wild dogs of the island she not only moves on but also allows herself to grow from that experience. She befriends the animal whom she called Rontu that had killed her own brother. That was one of the most significant events that displayed much detail in Karana's character.
The author of this book has a special way of evoking the reader's emotion through different events. When Karana finds Rontu under attack of the wild dogs it makes the reader become very emotional as well as when she had found her brother dead. The author made the reader have the same feelings toward each of these scenes because they resemble so much. The only thing different about these two scenes is their outcome. The outcome of Rontu being under attack foreshadows what the ending of the book could be like. This is where the author uses methods you may have to really think about while reading.
When reading Island of the Blue Dolphins you can see many symbols the author uses for foreshadowing. When the Aleuts came to the island, Karana wonders why Chief Chowig, her father, had given away his secret name to a complete stranger. When Chief Chowig is killed in battle with the Aleuts, many of the people of Ghalas-at believe that he died because he had given that secret name out. They thought that it was fate because of revealing something such as his secret name to a stranger. But even though the people thought that, Karana still gave out her secret name to one of the Aleut woman that had come. This showed great courage in Karana as well. These symbols of foreshadowing make the story much more interesting.
Island of the Blue Dolphins is an outstanding book that has many unexpected parts making the story ten times better. The author uses many techniques that allow the book to have a remarkable plot to it. This is a book for readers that like an emotional story that can have you thinking for quite some time as well.
-H.Cooper
Book Review: Truly Captivating, Endearing, and Emotional
Summary: 5 Stars
Island of the Blue Dolphins, by Scott O'Dell is definitely a book that won't lose your attention and will be a challenge to put down. It is a partially fictionalized, partially non-fictionalized book about a young, twelve-year-old girl who, through a domino effect of life-changing events, is left stranded on an island, separated from her family and loved ones. This Native American girl, Karana, is so strongly determined to live that she spends the next eighteen years of her life on that very island, everyday hoping a ship will come to her rescue and reunite her with her family.The island Karana and her family all once lived on together, resembled a dolphin, only known to the few people and numerous animals that inhabited it. The people on this island called it "Island of the Blue Dolphins" because of the beautiful and stunning Blue Dolphins that were just as plentiful as the waters surrounding the island. And just as the dolphins were at peace and harmony with each other and the water, so were the Native Americans inhabiting the island at peace and harmony with each other and the land they lived on. But as time inevitably passes and changes, it too changed the "dream-like life" these Native Americans were living. The peacefulness these people experienced was taken from them the moment a red-flagged ship, belonging to the Aleuts, was spotted off shore, heading towards the Island of the Blue Dolphins. That moment, an irreversible and unavoidable fate, unbeknownst to the tribe, was bestowed upon them. Unfortunately, the only means of escaping this fate was to flee either by boat or by death.
The day the Aleuts - the white men - arrived, they only came to hunt otters, but something went terribly wrong. A small battle broke out between the Aleuts and the natives, leaving more than 75% of the Indian men were left dead, the chief being one of them, as the Aleuts sailed away with the otter skins. There was not one person of the tribe who did not lose a husband, brother, father, or son.
Sometime later, a ship returns with white men on it, and bring these natives to another land. However, through a turn of events, Karana and Ramo are the only ones left on the island - l their family and relatives gone. Their first instinct was to collect food and build a shelter from the wild dogs that inhabit the island. Unfortunately, tragedy strikes after only three days on the island - Karana awoke that morning to find Ramo gone. Throughout the eighteen years Karana spends on the island, she learns how to build her own "house" and becomes friends with and observes many of the animals on the island.
I really enjoyed O'Dell's writing because this book is based on a true story, and O'Dell had to fictionalize most parts and make it sound believable, which he carried out remarkably. The true parts of this story are that there really was a girl stranded on an island, left behind to voluntarily stay with her brother who did not make it to the ship on time. He did die at the teeth of the wild dogs and she was left to forage for herself for eighteen years. She was "rescued," you could say, by two white men who came upon the island by ship. She willingly returned with the white men back to the white men's land, but when she tried to explain her story, no one could understand her language. Not even any of the natives around could understand her dialect, leaving her story to be much of a blank. She was never reunited with her family because she did not know what island the ship traveled to.
Book Review: Island Adventures
Summary: 5 Stars
How would you survive on an island that haunts you of bad memories by yourself? This is exactly what a young girl; Karana has to do in the book Island of the Blue Dolphins. This is a phenomenal book with lots of adventures and stories of how a young girl survives on an island by herself for about 18 years. It is written by Scott O'Dell, who has written many other books about Indian girls like this. His books have also received the Newberry Medal and Honor Awards like this one. Some of these books are The Black Pearl and Sing Down the Moon.
One day a ship comes to the Island of Blue Dolphins to hunt otter. When the captain of the ship and the chief of the tribe on the island get into a disagreement, a fight breaks out and the chief ends up dead. A ship comes to the island to bring the tribe to the new chief on the other island. Karana and her brother are left behind on the island and that night her brother is killed by wild dogs. To survive Karana has to make her own weapons to hunt and to kill her enemies, the wild dogs. She manages to injure the leader of the pack, but decides to heal him and befriends him. When another ship comes to hunt otter, Karana meets a girl on it and they become friends. When the girl has to leave a massive earthquake comes and almost kills Karana and destroys everything she has. Will Karana ever get off the island?
The plot of the story was exciting because lots of unexpected, adventurous things seemed to happen at the Island of the Blue Dolphins. I could clearly see each adventure and imagine it. In the beginning, the chief's son notices a ship on the horizon. No one knew who or what it was. When a ship comes to take the tribe away, Karana, the chief's daughter, notices her brother is still on the island. She ends up marooned on the island with her brother. After many years of being on the island alone, another ship comes. On that ship is a Russian girl that watches Karana from the bushes everyday. Near the end, a giant earthquake corrupts the island. Scott O'Dell was so descriptive I could hear the sound of the rocks crumbling of the cliffs.
The characters in this story were very exciting because they were brave, smart, nature loving, and caring. When Karana is on the island alone, she makes weapons even though there are stories that women would die if they made weapons. Karana also made a canoe even though she didn't know how. She just remembered how her father made them. When she was fishing, she found an injured, baby sea otter. She took it in and gave it a home, fed it, and healed it. Karana also has to deal with wild dogs that killed her brother. She manages to injure the leader, but takes him in. He eventually never leaves her and becomes her pet and her best friend.
I fully enjoyed reading this book. I couldn't put it down with all its breath-taking events. The book shows how Karana has to deal with the ever-changing seasons. She has to learn to be resourceful and responsible to survive. With all its adventure, courage, and hope that she will see her tribe again it has become one of my favorite books. It kept me on my heals wanting to know what would happen next. I'd recommend this book to young adults, adults, or anyone who likes adventure. This book shows you that courage and hope can get you through even the toughest times.
Book Review: The Best Island
Summary: 5 Stars
The Island of the Blue Dolphins is the story of a Karana, a brave girl. It was written by Scott O'Dell. The publisher was Dell Yearling: copyright 1960. It has won several awards. A couple are the Newbery award, and the ALA Booklist. There are many other books, like The Black Pearl, Captive, and Carlota. This book is an awesome book. It is filled with 184 pages of perfection!
The island of the blue dolphins is an island in the Pacific Ocean shaped like a fish. When the Aleuts come to hunt sea otter, the Indians don't get a fair exchange. There is a fight and many Indians die. Then another ship comes. This ship is different; it is a good ship to take them away from the island to a safe place where the Aleuts can't find them. But Karana's brother is left behind. She decides to jump off the ship and swim back to shore. When she gets there she has problems. The wild dogs kill her brother and she is determined to kill the dogs. She must gather food. She hunts with spears. She makes weapons even if it is against their law; she has to, to save her life. Then when the dogs attack, she kills many, but not the leader. She manages to injure the leader, but she feels too sorry to kill it. She takes care of the leader and keeps him as a pet. She names him Rontu. There is another ship. It is the Aleuts ship again. There is a girl her age on it. They exchange gifts and languages. Once she leaves, Karana isn't lonely anymore. But when Rontu dies she is. She finds another dog just like Rontu. She waits for a long time for a ship.
This book was very descriptive. It put fantastic pictures into my head. There was an island shaped like a fish, with high and low lands. There were beds of kelp around it, dolphins and sea otter around it. Those descriptions put a great picture into my head. When the Aleuts ship came, the book said that at first it looked like a small seashell, then it turned into a gull with folded wings and at last it was a ship. Those words are taking ordinary things and turning them into something great. In Coral Cove, it is just big enough to fit a canoe inside but once you get inside it is huge. It is as dark as night inside. All those things painted a beautiful picture into my head.
The characters were described greatly in this book. The Island of the Blue Dolphins showed good and bad attitudes. Captain Orlov, from the Aleuts ship was very mean and unfair. He didn't give the Indians what they deserved. Karana was a very faithful person. She tried to never disobey her tribe, but when her life depended on it she had to. She was brave to stay on the island for such a long time. Rontu was a very faithful dog. At first he was mean and angry. Then he was Karanas best friend for the long time on the island. He was very loyal and he never ran away.
This book was very descriptive. I was in tears when Karanas ship didn't come for a long time. I was grateful when Rontu didn't leave Karana. This book showed me lots of things. I learned that people do keep promises, even if they are late. I love this book and I would recommend this book to anyone, any age, anytime. I absolutely think that this book deserves *****!