Marooned: The Strange but True Adventures of Alexander Selkirk, the Real Robinson Crusoe
Grade 5-8–In a chronological account of the life of a privateer, two of eight chapters describe Selkirk's solitary, four-year survival on Juan Fernandez, an island 360 miles west of Chile. The book also includes the sailor's rescue and his return to Scotland. The final chapter discusses Daniel Defoe's attempt to use the man's records to create a literary work (Robinson Crusoe) that would pay his mounting debts. Pencil-drawn maps clearly show the locations of Selkirk's voyages. Reference to his temper stops in chapter one, after which he becomes a Bible-reading naturalist, wise navigator, and solitary individual longing for his island home. The book leaves out the historical possibilities that he committed himself in marriage to two women, struggled with alcoholism, and left again for sea after nearly killing a man in a fight. This compelling, if not entirely factual, book features a character about whom little has been written for children. Its greatest merit lies in the chapters that explain privateering and the war between England and Spain.–Julie R. Ranelli, Episcopal Center for Children, Washington, DCCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.