"Zia" by Scott O'Dell is a fiction adventure story about the main character named Zia. The theme of the story is Zia's plan and her long rough voyage.At first sight, Zia is a teenage girl tried to find her last relative, besides her brother, Karana. The quest to find her aunt who had been living no trace since her mother passed away. Though there weren't tidings about her aunt but Zia still sought persistantly and hoped to see Karana. She got advices from Captain Nidever who had experiences the sea and already knew the rage of the sea's storms the she will meet whenever on the ocean. He adviced Zia do not go, "You'll never make the Island, what with heavy seas, fog and wind, no sails, and no experiences." (Page 24) But she was thwart, "I listened and was silent, but what Captain Nedever said did not change my mind". (Page 30)Next to that, her brother's hobby was fishing, that make her trip had a little difficulty with Espada, the big fish in the ocean. "I'll catch an Espada as big as the boat", Mando said. (Page 35) After catching Espada, they had to row their boat following that big fish becase they couldn't take it up to their boat. "My hands hurt and I tried different ways of holding the oar." (Page 39) At the same time I wedgeed the barrel under forward thwart and held it there, with my feet braced against an oar rib". (Page 45) Those were little arduous at the beginning of her voyage.Moreover, there was an encounter between them and the man who's captain of the ship named Boston Boy also was the name of their current boat. "Her brother worked as a person who fed the fire to keep on going while Zia work in the kitchen making the meals for the men." (Page75) There was a plan to escape but Zia didn't want to go and she decided stay there with the hopefulness was her aunt still had been on the island. "There she was kept in a small cell, and was fed water and tortillas", "The night was freezing" and every day they tried to ask Zia but Zia replied that she know nothing.Afterall, she had met her aunt who she hope to see too much. But unfortunately after few years, she nolonger lived with her aunt, Karana died from home sickness. Zia and Karana's dog became best friends after burried Karana.In the story "Zia", the arduousness was characterized by actives of Zia and her brother in the voyage seeking her aunt. Zia's virtue throughout the story was a strong, stubborn girl.
I have to say I loved the book, Island of the Blue Dolphin so when I saw this book, I had to read it as this is the sequel. This sequel, Zia centers around the characters Zia and her brother Mando who live in a mission ran by some Fathers around the area of Santa Cruz. Zia went there in the hopes of finding her aunt Karana, who is on the Island of the Blue Dolphins with the hopes of rescuing her and bringing her back to her family. Zia feels that this would be the best thing for her aunt, Karana. The book moves rather quickly which is good because not a lot of exciting drama occurs in the book to keep my attention and I can tell that this book is aimed at a younger target audience. Sure, things happen to Zia but the drama is not there to keep the excitement going, they just occur. Mando and Zia do end up in a small boat in an attempt to go the island to rescue her aunt on their own and find themselves on a whaling ship as “captives”. I don’t see them as captives myself; perhaps they are workers aboard the ship, Indian workers which are earning their keep. After their adventure there, they end up back at the mission where Zia is reunited with her aunt (who got there by other means) but I think her aunt is not what Zia anticipated. I wished the book would have spent more time here and dealt more with what was going on within the characters but again, I think because of the target audience the subject matter is lightly dealt with. A very light read- nothing too exciting, it could really be expanded upon and would make a good starting point for further discussions. No sex, violence, or anything over the top……pretty neutral read.
What do You think about Zia (1998)?
After her aunt is abandoned on the Island of the Blue Dolphins, Zia is determined to find a way to get back to the island and rescue her. Enlisting the aid of her younger brother Mando, Zia hopes to patch up a fishing boat that washes up on the beach and sail to the island where her aunt Karana has been living alone for over a decade. But it's not as easy a task as she thinks when whaling ships, revolution against the Mexican missions and unfriendly seas intervene. Besides, even if Karana were rescued, would she even want to live among such different people after all this time?I didn't even know a sequel to Island of the Blue Dolphins existed until I finished reading the first book and noticed it was marked as #1 on this website (indicating the first in a series). Naturally, because it's what I usually must do, I picked it up at the library posthaste and read it, even go so far as to put aside what I had started next, which is what I usually don't do. I don't have a lot to say about this book because it didn't leave much of an impression on me. The beginning and the end were pretty interesting, and what I was actually reading it for, but the middle 2/3 were bogged down with random and irrelevant episodes. I never came to care as much for Zia as I did for Karana in the first book (though Mando was fun), and there didn't seem to be much flow or tension or interest. I thought this one had much more of a white-men-are-evil message throughout, and even Karana seemed to represent something different by the ending. It might be more "historically accurate," but that's not what I loved about the first book (regardless of whether or not it actually was). I read it pretty quickly even though I didn't find it very compelling (a long wait for a car tune-up can lead to some unexpected results).I can think of a few reasons why The Island of the Blue Dolphins would merit a sequel, but unfortunately I don't think the author addressed that many of them when he actually wrote one. Karana is featured a little, but more as an afterthought to a handful of halfway-historical happenings among the California missions in the mid-1800s. Basically the most interesting bits could easily have been written and included as an epilogue to the first book.
—Drew Graham
This book was incredibly disappointing. I loved the the first one so much! I just had a hard time getting into the character's personality. I felt like the story the O'Dell created for her was not worth writing. And historically he shouldn't have even written this. Island of the Blue Dolphins is based off a true story, while Zia is completely fictional. In real life, the ship that Karana's tribe left the island on (while Karana was left on the island) sunk or got lost and no one every heard from them. Her entire family died way before she was rescued, so she wouldn't have had a niece to visit with when she was taken to the mainland. I imagine if I had read it as a kid - like I had the first one - I would have liked it. Who knows.
—Chelsey Ortega
This book is head and shoulders above Island of the Blue Dolphins.While the books are related plot wise, they follow completely different narrative themes and story arcs. This one raises lots of questions regarding the conquest of Indian lands and culture, identity, and right and wrong. Also, I love how this story's plot intertwines with Island of the Blue Dolphins in a way that raises suspense. As opposed to Island of the Blue Dolphins, I had no idea where the plot of this story was heading. Every time it took a different turn I was surprised and kept reading. In fact, I read it in one sitting. Great book!!
—Margaret Carmel
