Hobbs, Will. Wild man island.HarperCollins. 184p. c2002. 0-06-029810-3. $15.89. JS* Hobbs sets this survival story off the coast of Alaska, where he himself has had experience sea kayaking A Sea kayak or touring kayak is a kayak developed for the sport of paddling on open waters of lakes, bays, and the ocean. Sea kayaks are seaworthy small boats with a covered deck and the ability to incorporate a spraydeck. . Andy, the protagonist, tells this in the first person, making the adventure all the more vivid and exciting for the reader. Andy had saved his money to join a group of kayakers. He chooses an Adventure Alaska trip near the place where his father died some years before while studying caves for evidence of human habitation HABITATION, civil law. It was the right of a person to live in the house of another without prejudice to the property. 2. It differed from a usufruct in this, that the usufructuary might have applied the house to any purpose, as, a store or manufactory; whereas before humans could have walked across the straits from Siberia. While Andy is away from the group to make a pilgrimage to the place his father died, a storm whips up and Andy and his kayak kayak (kī`ăk), Eskimo canoe, originally made of sealskin stretched over a framework of whalebone or driftwood. It is completely covered except for the opening in which the paddler sits. are blown far off course. This struggle against the sea and wind is filled with excitement, and then Andy finds a refuge on an island that seems deserted. As he waits for airplanes that never come, he lives on "seaweed seaweed, name commonly used for the multicellular marine algae. Simpler forms, consisting of one cell (e.g., the diatom) or of a few cells, are not generally called seaweeds; these tiny plants help to make up plankton. , the tops of fiddlehead ferns Fiddlehead ferns refers to the unfurled fronds of a young fern harvested for food consumption. The fiddlehead, or circinate vernation, unrolls as the fern matures and grows due to more growth in the inside of the curl. , the few berries ..., and one small fish that fell out of the sky. It was a herring that had slipped the grasp of an eagle." There are bears around, wolves, and inexplicably, a wild man and a large black Newfoundland dog. The rest of the plot revolves around Andy's attempts to find out who this man is and how he got there. Could it be Andy's father? He definitely is well educated and interested in archaeology. Andy's resourcefulness and his courage help him to persevere per·se·vere intr.v. per·se·vered, per·se·ver·ing, per·se·veres To persist in or remain constant to a purpose, idea, or task in the face of obstacles or discouragement. until he finds out the answers as he awaits rescue. Again, Hobbs proves, his skill at placing YA readers into wilderness environments as they follow the adventures of his teenage heroes. Seven of his novels have been chosen as ALA Best Books for YAs, and this one will surely be as well. Claire Rosser, KLIATT |
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