num_pages: 192
description: 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.
language: English
title: Island of the Blue Dolphins: A Newbery Award Winner
titlecomplete: Island of the Blue Dolphins: A Newbery Award Winner
characters: Karana
genres: Fiction, Historical, Adventure, School, Young Adult, Middle Grade, Classics, Childrens, Survival, Historical Fiction
ratings_count: 326682
places: California, Island of the Blue Dolphins
series: Island of the Blue Dolphins
awards: awardedAt: -283968000000
name: Newbery Medal, awardedAt: -283968000000
name: Lewis Carroll Shelf Award, awardedAt: -189360000000
name: Nene Award, awardedAt: -252432000000
name: Vermont Golden Dome Book Award, awardedAt: -220896000000
name: Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis
category: Jugendbuch, awardedAt: -220896000000
name: William Allen White Children's Book Award
publisher: Clarion Books