Fortunately for us, Dot Simpson vividly remembered her early island life and wrote about it with moving simplicity. Her memoir is brightened with dry humor, and it tells of a time long lost but infused with values we still cherish, such as love of home and family. Even though it is a story tinged with considerable sadness, we can't help but wish we could have spent at least a few of our own growing-up years alongside Dot, as an island child.
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.
A spellbinding, deeply felt debut novel--soaring and poignant--about passion, freedom, motherhood, and the power to shape our destinies. Oona grew up on the island of Inis: a wind-blasted rock off the coast of Ireland where the men went out on fishing boats and the women tended turf fires; where the only book was the Bible; and where girls stayed at home until they became mothers themselves. The island was a gift for some, a prison for others. Even as a child, Oona knew she wanted to leave, but she never could have anticipated the tumultuous turn of events that would ultimately compel her to flee. Now, after twenty years--after Oona has forged a new, very different life for herself--her daughter vanishes, forcing Oona to face her past in order, finally, to be free of it. Heralding a singularly gifted new voice in fiction, The Island Child is a timeless story of birth and betrayal, storms and shipwrecks and fairy children, and the weight of long-buried secrets.
A National Book Award Longlist title! "A wondrous book, wise and wild and deeply true." —Kelly Barnhill, Newbery Medal-winning author of The Girl Who Drank the Moon "This is one of those books that haunts you long after you read it. Thought-provoking and magical." —Rick Riordan, author of the Percy Jackson series In the tradition of modern-day classics like Sara Pennypacker's Pax and Lois Lowry's The Giver comes a deep, compelling, heartbreaking, and completely one-of-a-kind novel about nine children who live on a mysterious island. On the island, everything is perfect. The sun rises in a sky filled with dancing shapes; the wind, water, and trees shelter and protect those who live there; when the nine children go to sleep in their cabins, it is with full stomachs and joy in their hearts. And only one thing ever changes: on that day, each year, when a boat appears from the mist upon the ocean carrying one young child to join them—and taking the eldest one away, never to be seen again. Today’s Changing is no different. The boat arrives, taking away Jinny’s best friend, Deen, replacing him with a new little girl named Ess, and leaving Jinny as the new Elder. Jinny knows her responsibility now—to teach Ess everything she needs to know about the island, to keep things as they’ve always been. But will she be ready for the inevitable day when the boat will come back—and take her away forever from the only home she’s known? "A unique and compelling story about nine children who live with no adults on a mysterious island. Anyone who has ever been scared of leaving their family will love this book" (from the Brightly.com review, which named Orphan Island a best book of 2017).
From New York Times bestseller and Pulitzer Prize winner Junot Díaz comes a debut picture book about the magic of memory and the infinite power of the imagination. A 2019 Pura Belpré Honor Book for Illustration Every kid in Lola's school was from somewhere else. Hers was a school of faraway places. So when Lola's teacher asks the students to draw a picture of where their families immigrated from, all the kids are excited. Except Lola. She can't remember The Island—she left when she was just a baby. But with the help of her family and friends, and their memories—joyous, fantastical, heartbreaking, and frightening—Lola's imagination takes her on an extraordinary journey back to The Island. As she draws closer to the heart of her family's story, Lola comes to understand the truth of her abuela's words: “Just because you don't remember a place doesn't mean it's not in you.” Gloriously illustrated and lyrically written, Islandborn is a celebration of creativity, diversity, and our imagination's boundless ability to connect us—to our families, to our past and to ourselves.
Our island lies beneath a big blue sky, surrounded by the turquoise sea. Turtles glide through the clear salt water, and dugongs graze on banks of seagrass. In this lyrical celebration of place, the children of Mornington Islandexplore theirhome in words and pictures. This is a collaboration withmuch-loved children's picture-book creators authors Alison Lester and ElizabethHoney. All royalties from Our Island and one dollar from the sale of each copy are donated to Mornington Island State School to fund art projects in the community.
Burdened with bundles and baskets, a million or more immigrant children passed through the often grim halls of Ellis Island. Having left behind their homes in Europe and other parts of the world, they made the voyage to America by steamer. Some came with parents or guardians. A few came as stowaways. But however they traveled, they found themselves a part of one of the grandest waves of human migration that the world has ever known. Children of Ellis Island explores this lost world and what it was like for an uprooted youngster at Americas golden door. Highlights include the experience of being a detained child at Ellis Islandthe schooling and games, the pastimes and amusements, the friendships, and the uneasiness caused by language barriers.
Sunday Everette has a childhood unlike any other in the "Jim Crow" era of the South, growing up at the Pea Island Life-Saving Station among the barren dunes of North Carolina's stormy Outer Banks. In sheltered isolation, guided solely by the influence of the Station's heroic all-black crewmen, she blossoms into a strong and beautiful young woman with a spirit to match. But Sunday's secluded paradise cannot last. Her calm, simple days by the sea must inevitably give way to the fast-approaching storms of life. Unexpectedly, those darkening skies bring with them an unlikely mix of forbidden love, murder, and revenge--along with a Nazi submarine carrying millions of dollars in gold stolen from Hitler's Third Reich. First in a trilogy, Sunday's Child begins the saga of three unique families from across the world, flung fatally together by three of mankind's most basic traits: war, love, and greed.
"A wordless graphic novel in which twelve-year-old Marisol must adapt to a new life 1960s Brooklyn after her parents send her to the United States from Cuba to keep her safe during Castro's regime."--
Join a very brave girl and her furry friends on an adventure to Read Island! Through the power of imagination and the pleasure of reading, this curious trio set sail for a magical island made of books. On their way they discover a joyful collection of animals converging by sea and land, just in time for an unforgettable story hour. A rhyming celebration of nature, books and the importance of stories, Read Island invites you to experience the diversity and wonder of a hidden and wild place. In the company of sea wolves, humpback whales and spirit bears, readers will discover simple meditations that summon a magical destination - one filled with beloved friends, safe spaces and stories to be revisited again and again. For make-believe though it may look, There is an island made of books. This world of stories, safe and true, Is always here to welcome you.
