Reviews From Our Customers
Pretty good but a little old fashioned and slow
I am an Elementary education major and had to view the video and compare it to the book for a lesson plan. I thought it accurately depicted a lot of things but was incorrect in a lot of other ways. It did bring the characters to life but left out some key scenes. Rontu in the movie was not one of the wild dogs from the island but was left by the Aleuts whereas in the book he was described as one of the wild dogs. Other than that I found it a bit slow and old fashioned. Overall I thought it was good and would use it with a class to view critically and to compare to the book.
The Island of the Blue Dolphins
The Island of the Blue Dolphins
By: Scott O'Dell
September 20, 2002
The Island of the Blue Dolphins was one of the best books I read! It had had excitement in it, some action, and a lot of adventure. This story takes place on a island near California. There is a girl named Karana who lives with her tribe including her brother, sister, and father who was chief of the tribe. Karana was a girl that liked adventure. Her brother also like adventure but he like action too. Their father was a man that liked peace and fairness. My favorite character in this book is Karana. She is my favorite because she brave and adventurous. She also loves to help and care for animals. I liked this book a lot. It had a lot of interesting parts in it, and the author , Scott O' Dell, made it very detailed and desciptive so it was easy to understand. I think Scott O'Dell's purpose for writing this book was to show how the indians had to live. I also think he wants the readers to learn how they survived a long time ago. He also wanted the readers to learn that the indians didn't like the white men because they killed animals.
There are a lot of important events in this book. One of my favorites was in the beginning of the book. It started when Karana saw a big ship coming to the island that day. Finally when it got to shore the people from the boat started talking to her father. She soon learned that they were Aluets and they came to hunt otter. The captain said that he would give one part to the chief and then the Aluets would get the other 2 parts. They all started fighting and many men died including Karana's father. When the Aluets left they left behind nine chests of beads. My favorite quote in this book was "Dolphins rose out of the sea and swam before the ship." I liked it because it was at the end of the book and added to the happy ending.
I thought this was a great book! I liked it because it had a lot of adventure and also because Karana had to live alone for many years on the island and even break some rules. The type of reader that would like this book would have to like Historical-Fiction and a lot of adventure. I would recommened this book because it is fun, adventurous, and it is a hard book to put down!
A true heroine
What does it take for a 12 year old girl to survive alone for (18 years) after being left behind on a rocky island? Well, this is what happens to Karana (also known as Won-a-pa-lei) finds out. With only companions being a pack of vicious wild dogs, sea otters and some birds, she sets out to live as best as she could. Eventually, deep friendships develop with these animals and Karana's loneliness is abated (somewhat). Remembering what her tribe did in the past, she built shelters, found food and made weapons. Every day, she looks out to the sea wondering if the ship that carried her people away would come back for her. Yet, even in her successful attempt at survival, she longs for human companionship.
This is a beautiful and true story of "The Lost Woman of San Nicolas"... Karana's sheer will and determination to survive and her simple courage is told by Scott O'Dell and her adventures leap out from the pages. Her triumphant yet bittersweet story is wonderfully recreated. I highly recommend it to young readers out there.
