Island of the Blue Dolphins

by Scott O’Dell

This is another book I had read as a kid, and when I saw it on the shelf at a local used bookstore, I couldn’t help myself. It was certainly just as good reading as an adult as when I was a child.

O’Dell tells the story of an Indian girl living alone on the Island of the Blue Dolphins for many years. She ends up alone because she jumped from the ship that came to carry her people to a nearby North American shore. Her brother had been left behind, and she didn’t want him to be alone. Unfortunately, a few days after the boat leaves, her brother is killed by wild dogs, leaving Karana alone. She continues to watch for the boat, but days turn into weeks and weeks turn into seasons.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the book is that it is based on the fact that there was an Indian girl living alone on an island in the Pacific from 1835 to 1853. Very little is known about her other than she did jump from a ship, despite attempts to restrain her, her brother was killed by wild dogs, and she was found with a dog living in a crude house and wearing a skirt of cormorant feathers.