book data
11201 ratings, 3.87 average rating, 981 reviews
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published
May 11th 1999
(first published 1960)
by Yearling
binding
Mass Market Paperback, 208 pages
literary awards
Newberry Medal, Hans Christian Andersen Medal
isbn
0440228980
(isbn13: 9780440228981)
description
Scott O'Dell won the Newbery Medal for Island of the Blue Dolphins in 1961, and in 1976 the Children's Literature Association named this rive...more
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avg 3.87
The book that I read was," Island Of The Blue Dolphins" this book was great! It is about a girl named Karana, and she is from an indian tribe, she lives on an island called," The Island Of The Blue Dolphins". Her father is the chief of the tribe, she has an older sister and younger brother. One day some people came and battled them, and her father dies. After this some more people come to their island, and try to help them, so the people gather some belongings and ge...more
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Read in January, 1991
man, fourth grade was a good year for reading! this is another one, and fed my urge to be able to survive on my own even further. this is beautiful because it's based on a true story (she leaves the island with her skirt of cormorant feathers, which is on display at mission santa barbara) and because she was alone for eighteen years, and hid from russians, and dealt with wild dogs, and the loss of her brother.
it is beautiful, haunting, and a story of survival. it's also very much a story of...more
it is beautiful, haunting, and a story of survival. it's also very much a story of...more
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Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
All children and everyone who remembers this book fondly.
This was the best book in my early elementary years. I remember my first grade teacher, Mrs. Hendrickson, reading it to us over the course of a few weeks in serial form. I read it myself in third grade. And now, out of nostalgia (can you be nostaligic for your 8-10 year-old self?), I'm re-reading it. I remembered it as the adventurous, though sad, life of a young girl. Now it seems less about adventure and much more about the heart-breaking trials of a lonely girl, left alone and for dead.
Wh...more
Wh...more
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Read in January, 1992
This book was freaking awesome. I loved it when I was a kid. All of the people on an island are leaving together one day, on a boat. I don't remember why. Anyhow, the main character's little brother got left behind on the shore. (What, they didn't think to do a head count before launching the boat?) She jumps off and swims back to be with him. The boat apparently drives only forward, and not in reverse, or they are in a really big hurry. I know this because they don't come back and get her or he...more
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Read in February, 2004
Island of the Blue Dolphins is one of my favorites. I first read it all the way back in fourth grade. Back then, I never really read these types of books but as soon as we read it in class, I couldn't stop. After we finished our unit on the book, I had to read the sequel, Zia.
This story teaches us about living it up smart on our own and to make the best of bad moments. The Island of the Blue Dolphins is about a girl named Karana, who is left behind by her tribe on an island because she did ...more
This story teaches us about living it up smart on our own and to make the best of bad moments. The Island of the Blue Dolphins is about a girl named Karana, who is left behind by her tribe on an island because she did ...more
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Read in January, 2004
In the novel "Island of the Blue Dolphins", the main character is Karana. She is the daughter of the chief of the tribe that lives on the island, "Island of the Blue Dolphins". She also has an older sister, a mom, and a little brother. Her and the others from the tribe hunt and gather their own food, make their clothing, and build their shelter. They are very independent and are the only people who inhabit the island.
During this novel, the tribe is visited by foreigne...more
During this novel, the tribe is visited by foreigne...more
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Read in November, 2008
My fourth grade daughter insisted I read this because she enjoyed it so much, and I can see why. It was a fast read, but the story was engaging. It's based on a true story, and I was inspired by Karana and her resourcefulness. Descriptions of the island and the animals were vivid. Her relationship with the animals - as it evolved - was beautiful. We plan to visit the Southwest Museum in Pasadena to see the real artifacts from the Indian people who did inhabit this island . . .
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Read in June, 2007
I remember loving this book as a child but could remember very little about the plot except that it involved a girl on an island. Rereading this kids' classic, I was surprised to learn that the story was based on a real-life girl who lived alone on an island for 18 years. Goodness!
While the story is good, it didn't resonate with me as much as it did when I was in elementary school. At that time, the idea of a female child being self-sufficient on an island was very appealing and exciting; w...more
While the story is good, it didn't resonate with me as much as it did when I was in elementary school. At that time, the idea of a female child being self-sufficient on an island was very appealing and exciting; w...more
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Read in January, 1995
recommends it for:
anyone wanting to be a kid again
a children's book, this is my all time favorite. based on the true story of a young woman who had to survive alone on an island for more than 20 years. typical me...i love stories about strong women. i promised myself that when i "grew up," i would visit the grave-site of the woman who inspired the book. when i lived in california, i finally made my way to the mission in santa barbara where she was buried. for a moment i was able to flash back to my childhood self looking into the ...more
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read this for the first time before fifth grade.
this book was like all my daydreams. she was strong...she lived on her own, faught against dogs and survived. even though it's probably not meant to be, i consider this book to being my first women's empowerment book. :) it definitely taught me the strength of the female body. an amazing story that i didn't want to end. by the end of the book i was certain that if i ever got stranded on an island, i'd survive. ((probably not, but hey, opti...more
this book was like all my daydreams. she was strong...she lived on her own, faught against dogs and survived. even though it's probably not meant to be, i consider this book to being my first women's empowerment book. :) it definitely taught me the strength of the female body. an amazing story that i didn't want to end. by the end of the book i was certain that if i ever got stranded on an island, i'd survive. ((probably not, but hey, opti...more
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Read in September, 2007
When I visit my parents, I like to hang out with the bookshelves that hold all the books my sisters and I read when we were young. Somehow I missed this book the first time around. I've been reading it at night this week before I go to sleep, giving myself gifts to dream about: so many unbelievably great details--how otters play, how to make a skirt out of cormorant feathers, how to make friends with the wild dogs who killed your baby brother... It's charming and unsentimental and the prose i...more
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Read in January, 1992
recommends it for:
all readers
The Concept: The author based his book on true story of a remarkable young woman named Karana who, during the evacuation of Ghalas-at (an island off the coast of California), jumped ship to stay with her young brother who had been abandoned on the island. He died shortly thereafter, and Karana fended for herself on the island for 18 years.
This was my favorite book when I was a kid, and I still LOVE it. I really love tales of human survival, and I highly recommend this book to young and ol...more
This was my favorite book when I was a kid, and I still LOVE it. I really love tales of human survival, and I highly recommend this book to young and ol...more
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Might I be bored, annoyed, or disgusted with Scott O'Dell's many works from the viewpoints of young women? If I read them now, sure, I might be.
But I SWORE BY Scott O'Dell when I was 10-12 years old, and I think that's what mattered. The girls in the books spoke to me, and they were written for me then, not for the me that is now.
I will buy his books for my younger cousins, and hope they get the sense of self and adventure that these short novels offer.
But I SWORE BY Scott O'Dell when I was 10-12 years old, and I think that's what mattered. The girls in the books spoke to me, and they were written for me then, not for the me that is now.
I will buy his books for my younger cousins, and hope they get the sense of self and adventure that these short novels offer.
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It's been so long since I read this book that I can't accurately review it here except to say that even now I feel like that book taught me something very important, and I admired Karana just as much then as I do now. Even at the time I read it I recognized it as a book that educated as well as entertained, and I appreciated it for those qualities even as a kid.
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Read in January, 1980
I love this story... some of it has to do with the fact that my teacher had me read it aloud to the class in the 5th grade... I got to play teacher early on! But, really, it's a survival story and the girl is supposedly buried at the Santa Barbara Mission... I went there to visit her grave just because of this book.
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As a child I lived with a low grade, chronic, legitimate concern of one day being ship wrecked on a deserted island. This book, along with Walter Farley's The Black Stallion, fed that fear and fascination. I haven't read it since probably 4th grade but count this book on this list of Books as Good Friends, for certain.
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Read in June, 2007
recommends it for:
everyone!
It was fun to revisit this book with my 2nd grader, having read it myself at about the same age. Full of beautiful landscape descriptions, but more importantly a coming-of-age and learning-self-reliance book for girls and boys alike, made more interesting by the fact that we now live not far from San Nicolas.
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Read in January, 1993
Don't underestimate young adult fiction! I had to read this in school, I think in 3rd grade. I have so many great memories attached to this book. I found it at ARC and re-read it over the summer. I encourage everyone to re-read books you loved as a child, it's amazing the memories that come back and how differently you interpret things now.
I think this book was so powerful to me because I read it in a time when I was transitioning from child to young-adult, and the story is about a girl who ...more
I think this book was so powerful to me because I read it in a time when I was transitioning from child to young-adult, and the story is about a girl who ...more
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Read in August, 2008
I remember this being one of my favorite books when I was growing up, but I didn't remember much about it. I just read it again and know why it moved me so much all those years ago... a wonderful adventure, based on a true-to-life story.
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Read in March, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone
This is a sortta adventure book. A girl named Karana is from an indian tribe. White men came to her island and the battled. Unfortunely, her father died.
Read the book to see what else happened to her in her life.
Read the book to see what else happened to her in her life.
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quotes from this book
""They were black eyed like a lizard's and very large and, the eyes of a lizard, could sometimes look sleepy.""
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