Island of the Blue Dolphins
by Scott O'Dell
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Book Reviews of Island of the Blue Dolphins
Book Review: Left Alone For 18 Years
Summary: 4 Stars
Karana, a young girl abandoned on an island just south of Alaska. She was left alone to survive for eighteen years. Her entire tribe had left the island to flee from Aleutian enemies. The Aleutians had tried to take over the island by stealing seals for trade and now the Russians were helping. The only way to escape the continuing battles would be to leave the island. In the confusion, her brother Ramo was left behind. Karana was already on the ship and got off the ship to find him. By some twist of fate she was left behind with him.
The wild dogs of the island had before been afraid of the humans but since there were two young people left alone with no men to protect them, they came and attacked. The dogs killed Ramo and Karana was utterly alone. She had to find food, shelter, and safety alone. The dogs still came often and the threat remained on her life. The ship that had promised to come back later never came... she waited for it but soon gave up hope. She moved to a different part of the island and built a home in a cave with a whale bone fence to protect her. She used her knowledge from her tribe's old ways to get food and store it for the future. Also she learned how to fight off the dogs using her own weapons.
Through all the years she learns to love the island and it's beauty. She grows up alone and her only friend is a dog she tamed. Every once in a while she had tried to escape in the beginning but she stopped once she failed continuously. She mastered how to use her resources and never waste. In the end when it came time for her to be rescued she even was reluctant to leave the island because she had grown to love it so. She learned of what had happened to her friends and family and accepted why they never returned. She matured on the island and left her childhood there. Karana made the best of what she had and looked on toward the future with no regrets.
Book Review: Alone on the Island of the Blue Dolphins
Summary: 4 Stars
This book is called Island of the Blue Dolphins, written by Scott O' Dell. The story is about the survival of a young Indian girl, named Karana, who when left stranded alone on her people's island, must learn to live by herself. The author wrote this book from the point of view of Karana. So the reader experiences the story very personally, almost as if you were there.
The book begins when Karana's people are attacked by a foreign tribe named the Aleuts. In the battle over food Karana's father, their tribal chief is killed along with many of her elders. But then after a period of time, a boat, which comes to take them away, rescues the survivors. But Karana has to stay when her brother is left behind. After her brother, Ramo is killed by a pack of wild dogs; Karana is truly alone on the island of the Blue Dolphins. The rest of the book describes the adventures and challenges Karana encounters, while trying to survive. She must build a home for shelter, find and prepare food, and protect herself from potential enemies. Alone, Karana finds companionship with many of the animals of the island.
The author wrote this extraordinary book in many months because he paid so much attention to the details of each and every moment in this book. This author's style is very realistic and true to life. He has an ability to describe nature in a way that is as vivid as a photograph. He also creates tension and suspense out of every day events. The book gives readers an understanding and appreciation for a more primitive way of life. Scott O' Dell wrote this book for a level of fifth-seventh grade. I personally enjoyed this book for its creativity and the way it captured this girl's life alone. Although this story is very simple, you are always left wondering what will happen next.
By, Sonia, a 6th grade middle school student.
Book Review: Island of the Blue Dolphins
Summary: 4 Stars
The Island Of The Blue Dolphins is a story about a twelve-year old girl named Karana. She is the daughter of the chief of the island, Ghalas-At. One day, some Aleuts come from a ship to hunt otter. The captain, Orlov, says he only wants to give them 1/3 of the profit. However, the chief successfully negotiates with the captain to let the profit be equal. Nevertheless, on the day the captain is to give them their share of the profit, he attempts to take off. Then a skirmish breaks out and many of the island's men (including the chief) are killed. The rest of the island's inhabitants decide to go away on a boat manned by white men. Unfortunately, Ramo, her brother who is six, is left behind in the pandemonium. Karana decides to jump off the boat to go back to him. Unluckily, wild dogs kill her brother the second day when he goes off alone. Now Karana is stranded and alone, and her dominant fear of getting attacked by the wild dogs haunts her every night. She tries to survive and life gets easier over time. But she wonders whether a ship will ever come back for her...This story is based on a real island (San Nicolas) and a real Indian tribe. When they sailed to the east, one young girl was actually left behind. Father Gonzales befriended her after her rescue in Mission Santa Barbara and in this way he learned wild dogs killed her brother, but he learned little else from her. We know her as the Lost Woman of San Nicolas. The Lost Woman of San Nicolas is buried on a hill near Mission Santa Barbara. The future about San Nicolas is also unclear. It is currently a secret base for the U.S Navy. However, scientists predict that because of the fierce winds and battling waters, it will one day be swept back into the sea.
This book is an excellent summer read for children of all ages. If you like the Hatchet series you will love this book, too.
Book Review: I became Karana as I read
Summary: 4 Stars
First Line: I remember the day the Aleut ship came to our island.
I'm not quite sure how I missed this one growing up. With a 1960 copyright date, it was certainly around when I was young, but somehow it got lost in the shuffle, and I never read it. I've now corrected that oversight, and I'm glad I did.
In the Pacific Ocean, there is an island that looks like a big fish sunning itself in the sea. Blue dolphins, sea elephants, birds, otters... wildlife is abundant there. When the strangers come in their red-sailed ship, Karana's father reluctantly gives them permission to fish and to hunt for otters in their waters, but their hunting comes to a bad end. Not long afterward, a ship comes for Karana's people, and they gather their belongings and climb aboard. When Karana sees that her little brother is left behind on the island, she jumps ship and swims back.
Unfortunately Karana soon finds herself all alone on the island. She spends year after year there, but this isn't a tale merely of survival, it's a story of a girl who truly appreciates the natural world surrounding her. My eyes were riveted to the page as she built herself shelter, a canoe, fought off wild dogs, and explored the island. An author's note in the back told me that this story was based on fact, and that explanation made the book even more special.
I can see why this book is a Newbery Medal winner. Island of the Blue Dolphins has a wonderful setting and a character into whom we can all project ourselves. It wasn't just Karana building a shelter or trying to outsmart the wild dogs-- I was, too. When I finished the last page, I had to sit quietly and let the sea breeze calm and the vision of a fish-shaped island sunning itself in the sea quietly fade away.
Book Review: Have you ever survived on an island?
Summary: 3 Stars
Island of the Blue Dolphins is a good book because it feels like you are in it while you are reading. There are a lot of sad parts and how you survive when you are stuck on an island. This book is so good that it will let you keep on reading until you finish the story. It has some funny parts that will make you laugh like a laughing hyena. The parts that will be showing are, when Karana did a funny dance and when she met a Portugese girl that was the same height as her. The other funny part was when she learned how to speak portugese. This book that I loved, and the most intriguing story I have ever read it is called, Island of the Blue Dolphins. It's about a 14 year old girl that saved her life by an island she used to live in, before she moved. The characters were Karana, Ramo, The Aleuts, and a portugese girl. It is about Karana helping herself to be warm and surviving by food, shelter, clean water, and clothing. It has different animals, including wolves, and a lot of insects. This book wrote about how this young lady survived without any help, only herself and her little brother, but everyone that is reading my article is going to like the book. There are going to be a lot of tragedies in the book, so I hope you like to write a summary about this book that you want to read and put it on a projector on a poster for a book fair like in your elementary school that you went last year or you are still in that school. I bet it's a good book to you and I hope you write about the book! And if you want to write me back or you can mail it in my house, I would like that because it would be pleasure to me to write back and we could be friends until we get old and we would see who wrote me the letter. Thankyou for reading this article and please write back