Stranded - Hardcover

Mikaelsen, Ben

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0786820594 ISBN 13: 9780786820597

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 1995

Synopsis

Twelve-year-old Koby's struggle to save several pilot whales stranded on the sand helps her come to terms with the effects of a bicycle accident that cost her part of her leg and brought her parents financial worries.

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Reviews

Grade 5-7?Self-conscious about her appearance and her abilities ever since she lost her foot in an accident four years ago, 12-year-old Koby feels most at home on the water. Not only does she love living on her family's sailboat, but she revels in her time alone aboard a dinghy that she navigates through the Florida Keys. When she discovers a wounded pilot whale and helps it deliver a calf, then later rescues the animals when they're beached, the independence and attention generated by these incidents give her an improved self-image as well as new, admiring friends. Her parents' separation and a hurricane that threatens her father's livelihood as well as the whales' lives are other obstacles that must be overcome. Mikaelsen's writing is strongest when describing rich scenes of the seascape and wildlife behavior. The characters, however, seem to be of a type (gruff sailor; bouncy, popular classmate, etc.), fulfilling a purpose in the story but never coming alive, conveying humor that is forced and often speaking in a moralizing or patronizing tone. Although the theme of rehabilitation is evident, with the exception of the rescue there is a lack of tension and a juggling of plots that lead to a predictable, and at times sentimental, story.?Susan Knorr, Milwaukee Public Library, WI
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0786820594
• ISBN 13: 9780786820597
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288