Island of the Blue Dolphins, Scott O'Dell
I'm surprised I never read this one. I like historical fiction, and Island definitely belongs on several lists of books popular with tween girls, but maybe I was just too busy with Louisa May Alcott and the Babysitters Club series. Anyway, I picked it up for the Blue, not really knowing anything about it.
O'Dell took the true story of a woman who lived alone on an island for 18 years and turned it into an award-winning classic. Unlike other historical fiction I have enjoyed, like Phillipa Gregory's Tudor series, there is actually very little of The Lost Woman of San Nicolas that can be verified. Even the author's epilogue is disputed by some history buffs. So, with accounts given through pantomime and signing and the logs of a couple of captains, O'Dell crafted the tale of a woman's loneliness and survival. Regardless of how accurate it is, it belongs on children's shelves.
I'm not going to get into details of the plot, but I never thought details of fishing for a squid could be so compelling. Her relationship with the animals of the island makes me surprised Rontu isn't a more popular dog name.
There's no telling what "Karana" actually encountered and endured all those years, but I think O'Dell did a nice job of creating some conflict and resolution without turning it into an exhausting array of near-death experiences (something I grow weary of when reading the Outlander series). Karana is a realistic badass that I look forward to introducing my kids to. She earns 4 Marias for Island (and here is where we make a remark about white men getting things that natives/women worked for).
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