Copeland, Cynthia L. Elin's island.Millbrook. 144p. c2003. 0-7613-2522-0. $22.90. This is a rather old-fashioned novel about yet another girl who lives on a lighthouse lighthouse, towerlike structure erected to give guidance and warning to ships and aircraft by either visible or radioelectrical means. Lighthouses were long built to conform in structure to their geographical location. Until the beginning of the 19th cent. island--I think there have been about four such stories that I can remember in the past few years. Much of the novel is based on historical events, including the incredible tale of how Elin came to the island--washed up in a box as a tiny infant after a shipwreck shipwreck, complete or partial destruction of a vessel as a result of collision, fire, grounding, storm, explosion, or other mishap. In the ancient world sea travel was hazardous, but in modern times the number of shipwrecks due to nonhostile causes has steadily and adopted by the lighthouse keepers. The time of this novel is the early 1940s, as war in Europe looms, German submarines patrol the Atlantic coast, and the authorities are deciding whether to turn off the lamps in the lighthouses because they aid the enemy. Elin and her parents are not happy that the many years of constant vigilance VIGILANCE. Proper attention in proper time. 2. The law requires a man who has a claim to enforce it in proper time, while the adverse party has it in his power to defend himself; and if by his neglect to do so, he cannot afterwards establish such claim, the at the lighthouse would be stopped; they know this will endanger en·dan·ger tr.v. en·dan·gered, en·dan·ger·ing, en·dan·gers 1. To expose to harm or danger; imperil. 2. To threaten with extinction. the fishermen and others who look to the lighthouse To the Lighthouse (5 May 1927) is a novel by Virginia Woolf. The freely, multiply discursive tale centers on the Ramsay family and their visits to the Isle of Skye in Scotland between 1910 and 1920. to protect them from the dangers of the Maine coastline. From the beginning of the story there is constant action--first, Elin helps her father rescue two boys in a storm. The older boy, Dan, becomes interested in Elin and tries to get her to come to the mainland for a date. Then Elin's mother suffers a heart attack and Elin is left alone on the island in the initial emergency to take care of the lighthouse, even though she is not even 14 years old. Dan comes back to the island to help her out, and they hear explosions off shore. Worried about the Germans, they decide to turn off the light, but then they have to be vigilant about warning the American boats. Elin is intelligent, resourceful re·source·ful adj. Able to act effectively or imaginatively, especially in difficult situations. re·source  ful·ly adv. , and a real problem solver. Her
life is certainly different than any YAs would know personally, yet
reading about it is quite interesting.
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