Loading...
41st out of 102 books
—
169 voters
My rating:
add to my books
The Music Of Dolphins
A girl raised by dolphins must choose between two worlds in this critically acclaimed novel about what it means to be a human being.
Paperback, 181 pages
Published
February 1st 1998
by Scholastic Inc.
(first published February 1st 1996)
There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!
sign in »
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
2,211)
Simply put, this is one of the very Greatest books that I have ever read in my entire life. Karen Hesse's genius interpretations of life lived like an animal gave me constant, visible chills, resounding throughout my body like almost nothing that I have ever seen. The writing is so perfect that I don't want to spoil it by writing too much in this review; I will say just that it is one of the most awe-inspiring masterpieces of literature that I have ever experienced, and in an insanely full year...more
view 1 comment
This is by far the worst work of fiction I have ever read. Feral children are almost impossible to rehabilitate. And it's more than a stretch to ask readers to suspend their disbelief with regard to a girl who's spent most of her life in saltwater. Her skin would have become so waterlogged that it would have developed open soars and rotted off.
This book is nothing more than a very very cheap knock-off of Flowers for Algernon.
This book is nothing more than a very very cheap knock-off of Flowers for Algernon.
The Music of Dolphins doesn't fall short of Karen Hesse's previous books. I loved the style of the writing, and I loved the larger print, which was easy on the eyes. Sure, Mila's life with the dolphins was very unbelievable, but it plays a perfect part in the rest of the story. Mila is a girl who has lived with dolphins all her life. When she is captured by humans, she fails to understand their way of life and their expectations of what a normal human girl should be. Reading the Music of Dolphin...more
Another book that I think I would have liked at the intended age of the audience, but didn't do a lot for me now. That is, had I been able to tear myself away from my normal genre of accidentally-transported-into-the-past novels. It's about a young girl marooned on an island in a storm at age four, who ends up being raised by a pod of dolphins. She is later discovered and taken to a research facility. She learns to speak to humans and becomes entranced with music, but then hits a point where she...more
A wonderful book to read with children. Fifth graders are old enough to appreciate the use of print (fint, size, context) to create meaning. As the main character in this book learns English, the print gets smaller, and then there is a shift and the print begins to get larger. Why? When she thinks about her dolphin life the writing is fluid, poetic and in italics. Even with her simple language this character creates worlds of meaning and beautiful character portraits. Then there is the last lin...more
Mila is a dolphin girl. Sha live in the Ocean for many years until she was found by the human. She was brought back and was teached english. She thought everything in this world is great and wonderful and loved her dolphin music. She is very smart and learn really fast. Unlike her other friend Shay. Shay is a sweet and gentle girl mila say but she don't talk much. Mila alway wanted to make her happy. So does the docter that teach and care for her Doctor Beack.
Everything in Mila's eye ar...more
Everything in Mila's eye ar...more
I kind of went back and forth on this one but in the end I'm settling on 3 stars. I thought parts of the book were incredibly engaging and some of the writing was amazing. There were moments where it was tough to put the book down and when I did I'd basically be asking myself a ton of questions about who we are as people and what makes someone human. I think Hesse does a beautiful job of young adults (the audience for this book) to ask questions about who we are and what it means to be human. I...more
Hesse, Karen. The Music of Dolphins. New York: Scholastic Signature, 1996. Print.
Genre: Children’s Fiction/Animal Tale
The Music of Dolphins by Karen Hesse is a delightful story about a young girl who is raised by a pod of dolphins after surviving a plane crash. This story is told from a first and third person point of view. In the beginning of the book the sentences are short and there are no full paragraphs. This choice by the author was used to illustrate the main characters inabi...more
Genre: Children’s Fiction/Animal Tale
The Music of Dolphins by Karen Hesse is a delightful story about a young girl who is raised by a pod of dolphins after surviving a plane crash. This story is told from a first and third person point of view. In the beginning of the book the sentences are short and there are no full paragraphs. This choice by the author was used to illustrate the main characters inabi...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Sarah
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
grades 5-7
Shelves:
children-realistic
Told in journal format, this is a story about a teenage girl who is found in the ocean off the coast of Cuba by the Coast Guard. They name her Mila (Spanish for ‘miracle’) and discover that she has been living with dolphins for most of her life. She is placed into a special hospital/school where she can learn how communicate and behave like a human.
Mila’s progress is clearly documented in her journal entries; her entries start off very short with little vocabulary, then grow longer...more
Mila’s progress is clearly documented in her journal entries; her entries start off very short with little vocabulary, then grow longer...more
I picked this book up when I was in fourth grade. It was then that I decided I wanted to become an author myself.
Yes, a little girl wouldn't be able to survive out at sea for so long. But isn't that the beauty of fiction? Do readers of vampire novels stop and think "How come their skin isn't rotting away, if they're dead?" No, of course they don't. So, you really shouldn't spoil a good story with rational thoughts.
Anyway, back to the book. It's one of my favorite st...more
Yes, a little girl wouldn't be able to survive out at sea for so long. But isn't that the beauty of fiction? Do readers of vampire novels stop and think "How come their skin isn't rotting away, if they're dead?" No, of course they don't. So, you really shouldn't spoil a good story with rational thoughts.
Anyway, back to the book. It's one of my favorite st...more
This book is about a girl, Mila, who knows not very much because she was raised as a dolphin but was found, taught and brought into the world to learn English. Mila shows her improvement in her change from dolphin girl to earth girl. She tries and wants to give up but getter better and stronger.
I can connect to Mila for trying so hard and having it pay it in the end but just mssing what you use to do because you've done it for so long. Somethings never change and you cant stop people f...more
I can connect to Mila for trying so hard and having it pay it in the end but just mssing what you use to do because you've done it for so long. Somethings never change and you cant stop people f...more
early interest in wild children: story of a girl who was raised with dolphins, "rescued," and re-integrated with human society. at first she displays an eager aptitude, like, she always knew she had something those dolphins didn't! & then, inevitably, a depressed sense of loss, like, she always knew she had something those humans didn't. first-person narration exploits her development, makes an eight year old linguaphile feel like a real scientist. there's a brief description of th...more
This was a sweet heart-warming story that helped pass a grey afternoon. 'Mila' was enjoying her sunny day, traipsing along on shore when another plane was over head, only this was a different type of plane, and it was hovering above her beach. she ran, but the man that jumped out of the plane was to fast and caught her.
So starts this precious novella. 'Mila' as she was named was taken into study and housed with another "feral" girl found only months apart.
The story is a qu...more
So starts this precious novella. 'Mila' as she was named was taken into study and housed with another "feral" girl found only months apart.
The story is a qu...more
The draw for this book is the form. The main character is a feral child who has spent her formative years with a pod of dolphins. She is ‘rescued’ and taught to function as a human. Her journal entries are simple, the text large. Her language becomes increasingly complex and more correct. That’s an interesting evolution. She is able to express her thoughts and feelings more and more clearly. But what she feels is a dissatisfaction with being human. She wants to go back to the sea. And her langua...more
Poignant, lyrically written story of a wild child who struggles not to learn language but to feel a part of our world. A Cuban refuge stranded on an island and essentially raised by dolphins (the premise sounds way hokier in summary than practice; Hesse handles it masterfully) is discovered and brought to an institute where she essentially becomes a test subject. With narration by a protagonist who is rapidly developing as she tells her story, _Music_ calls to mind "Flowers for Algernon."...more
Read this one in fourth or fifth grade. It's the story of a girl who is raised by dolphins after the boat she was on between Cuba and Florida capsizes. She's spent about a decade living with the dolphins when she is discovered by a team of scientists. Termed a "feral child", she is taken to some kind of facility where she is taught to read, write, speak and otherwise act like a person and not a dolphin. The story is told from her perspective, in journal entries. The cool thing is ...more
Music of the dolphins is about a teenage girl names Mila.She was found swimming with dolphins. Turns out the dolphins had raised her, after a plane crashed when she was 4, killing her brother and mother.
After they found her they took her to an institution. A day after a doctor name Dr.Beck and his assitant Sandy teach Mila how to be human.
The more they teach her and keep her locked up the more she longs for her ocean home. About a month after Mila has a special bond with Dr. Beck and...more
After they found her they took her to an institution. A day after a doctor name Dr.Beck and his assitant Sandy teach Mila how to be human.
The more they teach her and keep her locked up the more she longs for her ocean home. About a month after Mila has a special bond with Dr. Beck and...more
After a plane crash off the coast of Cuba, a four-year-old survives, nurtured by dolphins. At adolescence, the girl is "rescued" by the Coast Guard and turned over to a scientist who has a government grant to study the part language acquisition plays in socialization. Mila, the otherworldly "dolphin girl," is enthusiastic to please, learning to speak words and write her thoughts on a computer, but gradually she understands that she is a prisoner "in the net of humans....more
This book is about a girl who got lost as a child and then was saved by Dolphins. she learns how to swim and eat raw fish, she loves her family. then humans find her and take her to a ladratory were she learns how to speak, she learns simple math and other things like table manners. after a yaer or so she start to miss the sea a lot and wants to go back.
when i was reading this book i was able to connect to Mila (the main character). when she was mad at her dolphine mom when she did ...more
when i was reading this book i was able to connect to Mila (the main character). when she was mad at her dolphine mom when she did ...more
I rated this book four stars because it was a good book. It had a really bad ending though. Well, it wasn't a bad ending I just didn't like it. She was becoming such a good human and she even had a crush on Justin but she missed her life as a dolphin. This book really shows how much a girl can love her "real" family and miss them so much. The author did a good job on making it sound like she wrote it. In the beginning it was very short, basic sentances and repeated ideas. Toward the en...more
This book is awesome. I know it's more of a kids story but i, personally, enjoyed it very much.The story is pretty much about a teenage girl who is found living with dolphins in the ocean where she has been since before she can remember. The girl knows nothing of humans and belives that she is a dolphin herself. She is taken to a special learning place to be tought how to read, write and speak. It was most entertaining to see how she reacted to all her new surroundings, things like swimming pool...more
I've had this book for a very long time. And I've probably read it about once a year. Even though its a children's book, it is very thought provoking.
Mila is a young girl who, after her capture by humans, goes to live in a research house where they teach her language, music, and other necessary skills. You see, Mila had been living with dolphins for the greater portion of her life, surviving in the sea and knowing nothing else. Of course the change is a great shock to her but she g...more
Mila is a young girl who, after her capture by humans, goes to live in a research house where they teach her language, music, and other necessary skills. You see, Mila had been living with dolphins for the greater portion of her life, surviving in the sea and knowing nothing else. Of course the change is a great shock to her but she g...more
"Mila creates headlines around the world when she is rescued from an unpopulated island off the coast of Florida. Now a teenager, she has been raised by dolphins from the age of four."
Yes, this is a young adult book. Yes, you can probably read it in an hour. Yes, the print for the beginning and end of the book is huge, like 36 or 48 point. BUT this was a really thought-provoking read. I belong to a book club, and one of the members was looking for an interesting yet quick and...more
Yes, this is a young adult book. Yes, you can probably read it in an hour. Yes, the print for the beginning and end of the book is huge, like 36 or 48 point. BUT this was a really thought-provoking read. I belong to a book club, and one of the members was looking for an interesting yet quick and...more
I read this with my son's third grade class last May. So, memories are dim.
I consider this Flowers for Algernon lite. The author attempts to teach a similar lesson, that human beings are complex and as experiment subjects, things don't always turn out the best for them, but it doesn't really have the same aftertaste.
A girl survives a plane accident when she is around 4 (her mother and brother die), but she is never discovered and spends the next decade living with an ad...more
I consider this Flowers for Algernon lite. The author attempts to teach a similar lesson, that human beings are complex and as experiment subjects, things don't always turn out the best for them, but it doesn't really have the same aftertaste.
A girl survives a plane accident when she is around 4 (her mother and brother die), but she is never discovered and spends the next decade living with an ad...more
My friend gave me this to read. I think the age range is about 4th or 5th grade but it was still enjoyable.
The story is about a girl who was lost at sea and grew up with dolphins. She was found and taken to be taught to live in a human community by scientists. She was taught to talk and basic human concepts. She had well-developed social ideas. Or at least the basic ones. It was very interesting how well she understood people's unspoken emotions. Much better than most people, I'd t...more
The story is about a girl who was lost at sea and grew up with dolphins. She was found and taken to be taught to live in a human community by scientists. She was taught to talk and basic human concepts. She had well-developed social ideas. Or at least the basic ones. It was very interesting how well she understood people's unspoken emotions. Much better than most people, I'd t...more
when i read this book it was the every first time that my interest in books began. this book is wonderful. i still remember when i was reading this book for the every first time when i was in the fourth grade
it was one of those hot summer days, i will be in my couch reading this book feeling the light of the hot sun shining and a cold chill when it was night. i didnt move from there until i finish that book. i cant even count how many times i read it.
i juss know that i love this book
it was one of those hot summer days, i will be in my couch reading this book feeling the light of the hot sun shining and a cold chill when it was night. i didnt move from there until i finish that book. i cant even count how many times i read it.
i juss know that i love this book
Hesse is best approached as if you are going to read a poem. There are flashes of interesting ideas, feelings, thoughts but no typical story arc. The ending of this one can leave the reader feeling cheated. The reader must be willing to except an extremely improbable premise. My 4th grader kept asking, "But what about her human family? What kind of future does that ending give? Aren't they even going to try to give her a family now?" Good for reluctant readers who like dolphins.
A girl is found an a deserted island who has been living with dolphins for years after they crashed and her mother and brother died. She then is taught to be "human", the language, music and how she develops and changes and learns and then regresses until she returns to the sea and her "family" of dolphins. Written in a creative format and is easy and fast to read. It made me sad about the commentary on humanity and what it means to be human.
A dream world written in so believable a fashion, and such an easy read that it's difficult not to love.
As a writer, I find this book is a a terrific book for analyzing voice. Karen Hesse does an incredible job describing characters as well through the limited vocabulary and unique observations of Mila, a feral child raised among dolphins.
Mila's adventure is unforgettable and heartfelt and her story will live on in my life as one I wish I wrote.
As a writer, I find this book is a a terrific book for analyzing voice. Karen Hesse does an incredible job describing characters as well through the limited vocabulary and unique observations of Mila, a feral child raised among dolphins.
Mila's adventure is unforgettable and heartfelt and her story will live on in my life as one I wish I wrote.
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Readers Also Enjoyed
Karen Hesse is an American author of children's literature and literature for young adults, often with historical settings. Her novel Out of the Dust was the winner of the 1998 Newbery Medal and the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction. In 2002, Hesse was a recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship.
For more information, please see http://www.answers.com/topic/karen-hesse...
More about Karen Hesse...
For more information, please see http://www.answers.com/topic/karen-hesse...
Share This Book
1 trivia question
More quizzes & trivia...
“I don't know what I am thinking. But I am alone. I am trapped in the net of the room. In the net of humans. I think maybe I am drowning in the net of humans.”
—
2 people liked it
More quotes…
