Stranded

Young Koby remembers all too well the speeding car that wrecked her bike and caused her to lose her right leg at the knee. Now, her parents fight and friends treat her differently. Out on the ocean, everything is okay. Then Koby finds injured whales stranded on the beach. As she works to save the whales, she discovers her own strength and comes to terms with her accident.

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.

Gr. 6^-8. Mikaelsen's latest has many of the same elements that made Sparrow Hawk Red (1993) so successful: strong, well-developed characters, an intriguing plot in which an engaging main character is repeatedly placed in danger, and an exotic setting so clearly described that readers will feel they have been there to visit. When 12-year-old Koby saves the lives of two injured pilot whales near her home in the Florida Keys, she doesn't imagine that her own life will change as a result. Koby's parents have separated, and the ugly artificial foot she wears seems to have ensured her isolation: she feels as stranded and wounded as the whales. Yet as part of a team that is nursing the whales, Koby gains a new sense of self-worth and learns that breaking down self-imposed obstacles to friendship and truly exposing herself may be as risky, and as satisfying, as rescuing the great beasts. Then, in a desperate attempt to save her father's boats from a hurricane, Koby and her parents not only must confront the raging storm, but also the emotional barriers that threaten to destroy the family. Mikaelsen's dramatic conclusion is full of hope as Koby, surrounded by new friends and her reconciling parents, helps release the healthy whales. Chris Sherman