Island, Book One: ShipwreckBy: Matthew HalltThe book Shipwreck was a good adventure packed book. In the book Shipwreck, there are two captains of a ship called the Phoenix, and they take young youths that give their parents lots of trouble and need to be away from them. There are six juvenile children in this trip and their names are Luke, Ian, Will, J.J., Lyssa, and Charla. The two captains of this ship and the main captain is Captain Cascadden and Radford. They are sailing out into the Pacific Ocean with a 60-foot boat and no planned destination. While sailing in the sea, a big storm started to form and J.J. was thinking that he could save the day. The young sailors were told not to put up any sails, but J.J. decides to and puts up one of the main sail and everything goes wrong. When J.J. releases the main sail, he immediately gets thrown on the deck and their boat flips over. Everyone was found after the storm besides Captain Cascadden. The boat had damage done to it and the crew is now without one of their captains. The next day came and the front of the ship had a massive hole in it and the ship was sinking by the minute. When Radford finds this out, he starts to be very quiet and leaves them the next morning. They are all alone in a ship that is sinking in the middle of the ocean.tThe characters in this story played their part very well. They were all kids that had problems with the law and had to get away from home and go on a trip. One of the captains, Radford, was a good character for this story because most ships have a captain that likes to yell at their crew and give them a hard time and that’s what Radford does. I don’t think though, Captain Cascadden was a good character because he just doesn’t really say anything like most Captains of a ship would say.tThe words the author used and voice was so great you could picture the images in your mind. He explained all the characters well so the readers can picture every feature of someone or something. I don’t like what he did with Captain Cascadden though, I don’t think he let him talk enough and order any around like a regular captain would. On the other hand, Radford was a very well-spoken character and I like what the author did with his voice. This book is good for people that like sailing and like being in water, but I wouldn’t recommend it for people that don’t like that kind of stuff. This is way I’m giving this story a 3 star review. ( I posted this review on good reads)
First, the story opens with the main character named Luke, who is not the most typical boy. He’s not into the stuff boys like; he likes maps and learning about important people such as Albert Einstein. Next, his parents send Luke on a survival challenge where he meets JJ, Will, Lyssa, Charla and Ian. While they are all very different, one thing they have in common is that all of their parents sent them to an unknown island, because they didn’t want them around anymore. After that, they meet their captain who is not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Captain makes a suggestion that they go on a sail ride, expecting not to be on the water for a long time. As they make their way farther into the Pacific Ocean, tragedy strikes, and the ship sinks! As they all struggle for air, they spot a piece of wood floating in the water. They all grab it and hold it, moving towards the shore. When they learn that the captain has died, they realize that they are all alone and need to work together to make it to shore because they can only hold on to a little piece of wood for so long. Suddenly, Charla is missing and they NEED to find her. They work together and take turns searching for her underwater. Ian soon finds her swimming for shore and they all follow her there. When they arrive, they discover that some of their belongings have floated to shore. They now have to face many challenges such as: no food or fresh water, Charla is unconscious and they are all alone. The book ends here as the next novel continues the story.
What do You think about Shipwreck (2001)?
Gordon Korman impresses me again! I have loved his books since I was a kid, and have read a few of his newer titles off and on since, and though they have always entertained me, they never quite captured the magic that the ones I read as a kid did. Shipwreck did that for me. Though the story isn't new, and the characters aren't developed too much yet, the complete package is an exciting ride that is packed with real danger. I've read a lot of fantasy stories where there is action action action and people even die, but much of it passes over me like mindless movie mayhem, but Korman uses an economy of words to perfectly capture a tense moment and keep you on the edge of your seat. Starting the second book immediately!
—Keith
This book is about a group of adolescent kids who are deemed "bad" by the court system or who have committed a crime or, in some of the kids case, they were just sent on a trip on a boat that is supposed to straighten them out. They are to cross the sea on an excursion where they are to take care of the boat and learn manners in hopes to become better citizens and to get along with their siblings better. The boat ends up in a terrible storm which throws the captain overboard to his death. The boat catches on fire and blows up and the group of teens who were on board of the ship are separated. There are 6 kids total, 4 are on a scrap of wood from the blown up ship and 2 are not in sight. The group of four comes to the conclusion that the other 2 are dead. The group of 4 eventually floats to an island in the middle of the ocean.My analysis on the book:I liked the book, at first it was really slow to get into and the characters were...blah. To be honest, I thought that the character development was really lacking (but maybe that's why this is a series). The kids were brats and maybe they were supposed to be. I thought that it picked up about 3/4 of the way through the book and I actually enjoyed the ending. It's good as a series but if one were to just up and read the first one without reading the rest you might be disappointed.
—Bailee Super
These books were such an easy read that I was able to finish the entire trilogy in one day.Gordon Korman's Island series wasn't as fun for me as his Everest series -- possibly because the plot was a little less believable, in my opinion.But the first book starts off in a promising way. It opens on Luke Haggerty, who's being sent on a sailing excursion called "Charting a New Course". He was framed by a classmate who brought a gun to school and is being forced to participate in the program as part of his sentence. The program teaches kids self-control and discipline through the hard work of sailing. Luke's shipmates include the captain, his weaselly first mate, Mr. Radford, and a few other troubled kids.As the book's title leads you to believe, the kids do end up getting shipwrecked on an island. The first book covers their journey to this point. While there was a fair amount of action, I didn't think that this series did as good a job fleshing out the characters as the Everest series did. Many of them seemed more like mere caricatures to me, especially the character of Mr. Radford.And one detail that rather annoyed me was how one of the characters, JJ Lane, is supposed to be the son of a famous director. Korman tries to legitimize his fame by dropping names of actual celebrities, which I think was a mistake on his part. The book will not bear well with time as a result, and JJ's relationships with these celebrities would be pretty improbable, even if he were a real celebrity kid. I personally thought it would have been better if Korman had made up celebrities instead of dropping real names.All in all, though, I thought that Shipwreck was a fun read; not a bad way to pass time on the train.
—Jelinas
