Sam's Secret Island

Sam's Top Secret Journal #2

by Sean Adelman

Sam is an eight-grade girl living a regular life, enjoying her family, school and traveling. She doesn't feel different but sometimes others treat her differently because she has Down syndrome. Sam's private journal chronicles what begins as a summer vacation...and turns into a brand new adventure, filled with friendship, mystery and a secret island. Dr. Sean Adelman crafts this second book in the series with themes of diversity, acceptance and growing up. Readers will laugh, learn and hold their breath along with Sam as a simple stay at the beach becomes more exciting than she ever imagined.

144 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 2013

About the author

Sean Adelman is a practicing orthopedic surgeon in Seattle, Washington.  He grew up in a military family and served in the Air Force.
Sean is an advocate for exceptional kids and enjoys his free time with his lovely wife, Susan, and their three children. When he’s not busy being a dad, surgeon, and author, he can be found running or playing classic rock and roll on his electric guitar.

Reviews

[Kim McReynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good learning adventure series

Good adventure for middle school readers. Teaches that just being different doesn't make one different from everyone else. We all have the same issues, no matter any disabilities or privileges.

[Sarah-Jayne Briggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

(I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads giveaways).

(This review may contain spoilers).

Although I haven't read the first book in this series, I did really enjoy reading this. It was a children's book, technically, but I thought it did still deal with some very real issues really well.

It was really good to see how Sam viewed her family and situation. I enjoyed seeing her relationship with her brother and sister... and how she worried and cared about her parents.

It was nice to see how Sam and John befriended Tracy. I enjoyed seeing the dogs... and I also felt really sad about Tracy's relationship with her father. It was nice to see that Sam was really active, despite the difficulties Downs Syndrome did mean for her.

It was good to see Sam and her older sister, though I would have liked to see a bit more of their interactions. Some of John's antics did make me smile and I felt that I could relate really well to Sam and her imagination... especially when it came to her thoughts about the fairies and the secret island.

I especially liked being able to get glimpses into Sam's thoughts through her journal entries. I thought those offered a bit more insight into her personality and what she thought about her vacation.

I felt this book was short and fairly easy to read. It managed to draw me in especially well and I thought that the main characters were likable... even though John seemed very much more interested in Tracy's game consoles than in being friends with her. At the same time, though, it was good to see that he did try to help out... and he was part of the friendship.

I did like the idea of the secret island. That was the sort of thing I'd personally enjoy finding... and the appearance of the squirrel did make me giggle. And, of course, putting food in a cardboard box wasn't a good idea.

I did really like being able to learn more about what Sam liked doing and her different hobbies, as well as her more creative side with the drawing. I really did like the family aspects and it would have been nice to see more of Tracy and her father.

I would read the other book/s in this series in the future. I'd like to see more of Sam and her family.

[Gwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sam's Secret Island is a good tween read. My grandson will enjoy it. I didn't care for the parental disobedience of parts of the book, however.

I received this book free from Goodreads First Reads.