A new book for the club

A group of us are about to start Island of the Blue Dolphins, by Scott O’Dell.

The first time I read this book I didn’t look for an author. I have a bad habit of jumping past the cover and title page and digging right in to the book. So what? So, I figured it was an autobiography, or at least semi-autobiographical. The voice of Karana was lifted right from my head — she was an authentic young girl, doing her survival-things on the island.

Imagine my shock when I eventually saw that this was the voice of Karana:

Which piggy-backs on the whole boy/girl thing from last week.

How did Scott O’Dell get in the head of a young girl? He wrote on his site http://www.scottodell.com that a lot of the story came from his childhood, hanging out on the beaches near Los Angeles. He played survival games and pretended to be a castaway with piles of driftwood and seaweed for tools. He was a fantastic writer, and his skill for the craft is clear in this novel.

I can’t wait to read this with a group. If you want to read along with us, books are available at the library…just come in and ask!

The book is exciting and has inspired fan love for more than 50 years. This video is incredible! I love the trend for fan-made movies promoting favourite books!