I like this book because it was adventurous. It made me picture myself in the jungle. Will and his family were on a ship heading to somewhere. It gets serious when Will's gunshot wound is badly infected. His fever goes up. He gets goofy and passes out. They give him medicine from the abandoned army dispensary in the jungle. Medicine is running low. Ian said he should have seen a doctor. Their plan to escape is tricky! J.J. has to go on the smugglers plane, he is held for ransom and tries to get everyone else rescued. The smugglers find J.J. and threaten him. They want info on his friends. They break his arm but he doesn't tell on his friends. He convinced them that he is the son of a Hollywood director using his glasses. They could get big bucks for him. When he thinks they'll kill him even when they get paid, he gets out of there. He runs into a police car, J.J.'s father had sent.Will's fever gets worse. The infection is so bad the bullet needs to be taken out. Luke and Carla remove the bullet with Ian's help. They used stuff from the army camp next to atomic bomb Junior. Will comes two days later. They escape the island on a yellow raft. A marine scuba diver gets them onto a chopper. J.J. is on the chopper, too! When they get back to the main land scientists open up Junior. They are all there to see the note inside the atomic bomb that says KA-BOOM! The island is named after Junior. Radford is found in a bar and arrested. He gets charged with six counts of attempted murder. They reunite at J.J.'s house. I would recommend this book to middle school and high school boys. Girls in this age group might like it too, if they're looking for an adventure!
Book Three Escape by Gordon Korman. The book is a nail bitting, grip riding book. The characters are stuck and have many escape chances but most attempts fail except when J.J Finds a plane to escape just to find out it is smugglers that use the uncharted island off the pacific ocean.The issue is life or death. Will a main character has been wounded from a gun shot to the leg from the previous book J.J escapes with luck and gets a lift to the uncharted island to help rescue the others.During J.Js life or death days the othe castaways remove the bullet with old surgical equipment that was used during vietnam where the airforce hid the planes.My favorite quote was on Page 79 "The goodbyes back at camp had been shattering." This shows why leaving a friend(s) alone at some uncharted island in the book is kind a sad. another good quote is on page 100 it says"There was the slug - ugly misshapen, glory but out."This shows even with adversity you can overcome anything if you just believe.The other social issue is adversity like when the other castaways besides J.J got the bullet out they could of stop and given up but they did not to save wills life in this world there is many types of adversity such as you are down 5-1 in the 9th
The final installment of the Island trilogy, Escape has Luke and the other kids having to make desperate descisions to find a way to not only survive, but to get out. Knowing that the only people that will ever find them on the island are murdering smugglers, and having will dying of an infection from a bullet would, they make the choice to have one of them stow away on the smugglers plane to try and get help. But when rescue still doesn't come, they may have to take matters into their own hands.Such a great adventure story, especially for kids. It is clean, exciting, and a great way to wrap up the story.
—Lisa
The thrilling conclusion to the Island series, this book doesn't slack off the action one bit. In fact, it pretty much increases.Reunited with their lost friends, and with Will’s memory returned, there are new problems for the six castaways to face. Will, though his mind is back to normal, has now suffered an accidental gunshot wound to the leg. Moreover, the six have discovered an abandoned army base from W.W. II, and an atomic bomb, which was left forgotten after it was never deployed. With no medical help for Will’s leg, and the chance that the ruthless smugglers may discover and kill them any day, the castaways are thrown into the most desperate and suspenseful book yet. They must truly become a working team, and all of them must contribute their unique skills to keeping the group alive. But when it falls to J.J., the flaky movie star’s son, to save them all, will the kid who’s never taken them or their situation seriously be able to carry out his pivotal duty? A very satisfying ending to this riveting and inspiring series!
—Victoria
Last book of Gordon Korman's trilogy, Island. A very good series for boys and for many reluctant readers. In the first two books, six kids are sent to participate in a program for troubled youths. They get shipwrecked, figure out how to survive while meeting all sorts of danger, and now need to be rescued. Life has been hard enough on the island, but Will's injured leg needs modern medical attention right now or he might die. Not only that, the bad guys are back on the island. How can the kids solve their problems?Roughly late 3rd grade or 4th grade and up.
—M.
