Shipwreck Island

by S. A. Bodeen

Feiwel and Friends, 2014. 184 pgs. Fiction

Shipwreck Island starts out like a normal--even predictable--adventure story. Twelve year old Sarah's father has remarried after the death of Sarah's mother, and the new family (two boys) are taking an island cruise to try to blend into a loving group. Things go quickly wrong, as the luxury yacht they were supposed to sail on turns out to be a rusted out junker, and when the captain dies in a storm, the family is washed up on the shore of a beautiful island, and they make camp and wait to be rescued. But when they begin looking for fresh water, things get abruptly very weird. They find an empty house built from oak(!). Marco, the twelve-year old boy, sees a brilliant red bird that has teeth instead of a beak, and when he opens what appears to be an aged bottle of perfume, a woman's voice cries "Please come back!" Things get even stranger from there, and the good news and bad news is that Shipwreck Island is a fine story and the first in a series, but it ends so abruptly you feel like you've stepped off a step you didn't know was there. Hopefully in succeeding volumes Sarah will grow up a bit. In this book she occasionally rises to the occasion, but is mostly a sulky, whiny crybaby. Her new stepbrothers, Marco, who is her age, and Ignacio (Nacho) who is four years younger, are vastly more mature. On the whole, an excellent adventure/fantasy that should appeal to youngsters who like a tingle or two of fear in their narratives.

Comments

Funny Farm by Mark Teague 2009

There are things I liked about Mark Teague's newest book, Funny Farm , and things I didn't like. Where should I start? I'll do the "didn'ts" first. The illustrations show animals personified. Well, some of the animals are. The main characters, Edward, and his farm family relatives, all dogs, are humanized. They stand upright, do farm chores, eat at a table, wear clothes, knit (yes, with paws) and sleep in beds. Most everybody else on and around the farm, who are also animals, act like animals. They are outside, roll in mud, live in the barn, and require care from their owners. It struck me the most on the page spread where there are pigs playing in puddle in the rain and Edward, a black and white boxer, watches from inside the house. I thought "You're a dog! Go play with them!" But, alas, he can't, seeing as how he goes through his entire visit to the farm wearing a suit and red bow tie. Another picture that bothered me was the maple syrup pa...

Review: Super Boba Cafe

Super Boba Café By Nidhi Chanani New York: Amulet Books, 2023. Comics. 215 pages. 14-year-old Aria is excited to spend her summer in San Francisco getting quality time with her Nainai. She loves helping at her grandmother's Super Boba Café. But she can't help but notice that her grandmother is acting strange and secretive. She refuses to let Aria into the kitchen at all and she disappears at the same time each night without telling Aria where she goes. Meanwhile, Aria is eager to drum up more business for Super Boba Café. She gets a major windfall when the shop cat, Bao, surprises them by having kittens, and Aria realizes this is a major social media opportunity. She knows this will help Nainai's shop, but she is apprehensive to get back on social media after a terrible cyberbullying experience she had back home. As the shop starts to get busier, Nainai is more and more anxious about her secret project. This prompts Aria to investigate with help from her Nainai's neighb...

Review: The Mixed-Up Owl

The Mixed-Up Owl Written by Marzena Sowa Illustrated by Joanna Lorno New York : Hippo Park, 2025. Picture Book. When Owl can't sleep at night, he heads off to see if any forest animals can help him understand why, and even more so, how to fix it! Unfortunately, all the animals Owl runs into at night are asleep and all the animals he meets during the day are too rude or too busy to answer him. Will Owl give up or will a chance meeting with a grumpy hedgehog provide all the solutions Owl was looking for? The premise of an owl trying to stay awake during the day because all the other animals around him do is very fun. Kids who know that owls are nocturnal will get a kick out of Owl's confusion and be quick to try to tell him what's going on. Readers who don't know many facts about owls (or nocturnal animals in general) will get a brief introduction to the different ways animals sleep. The illustrations are charming, especially cute Owl and his expressive body langua...

Provo Library Children's Book Blog

Search This Blog