Island of the Blue Dolphins

1961 Newbery Medal Winner

Far off the coast of California looms a harsh rock known as the island of San Nicholas. Dolphins flash in the blue waters around it, sea otter play in the vast kep beds, and sea elephants loll on the stony beaches.

Here, in the early 1800s, according to history, an Indian girl spent eighteen years alone, and this beautifully written novel is her story. It is a romantic adventure filled with drama and heartache, for not only was mere subsistence on so desolate a spot a near miracle, but Karana had to contend with the ferocious pack of wild dogs that had killed her younger brother, constantly guard against the Aleutian sea otter hunters, and maintain a precarious food supply.

More than this, it is an adventure of the spirit that will haunt the reader long after the book has been put down. Karana's quiet courage, her Indian self-reliance and acceptance of fate, transform what to many would have been a devastating ordeal into an uplifting experience. From loneliness and terror come strength and serenity in this Newbery Medal-winning classic.

Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Published: 09/09/1960
ISBN: 9780395069622
Pages: 192
Weight: 0.73lbs
Size: 8.66h x 5.82w x 0.77d
Award: Nene Award - Winner

Review Citations: Booklist 02/15/1992 pg. 1101
Entertainment Weekly 11/14/2014 pg. 111

Accelerated Reader Quiz #/Name: 45 / Island of the Blue Dolphins
Reading Level: 5.4 / Interest Level: Middle Grade / Point Value: 6