SSOJ Blogs

Since quarantine started, I have found myself having a lot more time than usual, so I decided to reread a book that I enjoyed in the past. Lord of the Flies by William Golding follows young boys that have survived a plane crash and landed on a mysterious island (with no adult supervision). Ralph, with the help of another boy called Piggy, quickly takes charge and gets the other boys to start thinking of ways to be rescued. Using a conch shell as a way to gather everyone, Ralph quickly distributes roles and makes a boy named Jack as the leader of the hunters. Jack quickly rose in popularity after successfully hunting a pig and decided that he wanted to form his own group, one he was the leader of. Left alone with only their imagination and minimal survival skills, the boys have to learn to endure the island (and each other) until someone finds them. Just a warning, from this point on, there will be spoilers! Something that I disliked about the book was how quickly everything seemed...

            Island of the Blue Dolphins is a thrilling story with a wonderful message. My mom has been encouraging me to read this book for years because it was always her favorite book as a child, and now that I have finally read I am so glad I did. This book begins with 12 year old Karana, an Island Native to the Island of Blue Dolphins. One day a group of Russian men come to her island to hunt the otter that live there. The Island Natives obviously do not like the Russian men stealing their resources, which leads to an argument where many of the islanders and Karana’s father die. The women and children are left vulnerable on the island until a group of white men arrive and takes all the islanders aboard. In all the commotion, Karana and her brother are left behind alone on the island. Unfortunately, her brother is soon killed by a group of wild dogs leaving Karana alone on the island.       ...