The Islander is the current read in our house. The reading level states that it is for fifth grade, but I decided to read his book aloud to my five year old tonight to see how he would respond to it. Needless to say we both got sucked into the mystery and fantasy of the main character Daniel and the mysterious occurrences happening to him the island of Coquille. Daniel lives with his grandfather since the death of his parents on a very small island. He is shy and an avid reader, but not formally educated or a typical boy's boy. We are only through part one of the book, but I had to write to say how intriguing & wonderful this book is. It has all the cliff hanging mystery and fantasy of a classic adventure novel. Daniel who is brilliant and sullen has spotted a mermaid who spoke his name on the shore and he begins contacting her through messages in a bottle. The mermaid sends an otter who tosses a shell on the shore that contains an old tarnished brass key. What does this key open? What will Daniel discover next?
Through the extraordinary encounters with the mermaid, Daniel has a new found wonderment for life. In his words "Seeing her that evening made me believe in things I'd never believed in before. And for the first time, I felt a part of the world. For the world was no longer little stone houses and wooden boats and the cry of the gulls at dawn. It was larger and deeper and more marvelous than I had ever known, and being absolutely sure of this made me want, more than ever, to be alive."
Cynthia's writing is eloquent and emotional. You can feel the wonder, as well as, the deeper feelings Daniel experiences. I have officially become a Cynthia Rylant fan. I cannot wait until morning when Dutch and I can sit down and devour the rest of The Islander.
No comments:
Post a Comment