num_pages: 117
description: Abel's place in his familiar, mouse world has always been secure; he had an allowance from his mother, a comfortable home, and a lovely wife, Amanda. But one stormy August day, furious flood water carry him off and dump him on an uninhabited island. Despite his determination and stubborn resourcefulness--he tried crossing the river with boats and ropes and even on stepping-stones--Abel can't find a way to get back home. Days, then weeks and months, pass. Slowly, his soft habits disappear as he forages for food, fashions a warm nest in a hollow log, models clay statues of his family for company, and continues to brood on the problem of how to get across the river--and home. Abel's time on the island brings him a new understanding of the world he's separated from. Faced with the daily adventure of survival in his solitary, somewhat hostile domain, he is moved to reexamine the easy way of life he had always accepted and discovers skills and talents in himself that hold promise of a more meaningful life, if and when he should finally return to Mossville and his dear Amanda again.
language: English
title: Abel's Island
titlecomplete: Abel's Island
genres: Fiction, Animals, Adventure, Juvenile, Young Adult, Middle Grade, Classics, Childrens, Survival, Fantasy
ratings_count: 5044
awards: awardedAt: 220953600000
name: Newbery Medal, awardedAt: 220953600000
name: Lewis Carroll Shelf Award, awardedAt: 252489600000
name: Young Hoosier Book Award, awardedAt: 284025600000
name: Zilveren Griffel, awardedAt: 252489600000
name: Vermont Golden Dome Book Award, awardedAt: 820483200000
name: Phoenix Award (Children's Literature Association), awardedAt: 220953600000
name: Boston Globe-Horn Book Award
publisher: Fontana Lions