Review: Orphan Island

Orphan Island by Laurel Snyder
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Nine children, alone on an island. Every year, a boat arrives bringing a new child, and the eldest child leaves by the same boat. Who are they? Why are they on the island? Where did they come from and what happens to the Elder after they leave? We soon see that things on the island are not quite normal, and something or someone is controlling it. Is it magic or technology? Who is charge of everything? Reminds me a bit of both <i>The Maze Runner</i> and <i>The Girl Who Drank The Moon</i>, and also made me think of the old Jim Carrey movie "The Truman Show".

Unfortunately, we do not get the answers to ANY of these questions, which just soured me on the whole book. So we find nothing about the big picture, but spend a year watching the new Elder, Jinny, flounder as a leader and fight with her ambivalent feelings about her impending departure. Some have  championed this book as a possible Newbery honor book, but it is not on my short list. Books that have no real ending, and leave so many important questions unanswered just piss me off!

I get that some see this as an imaginative metaphor for childhood, and the ambivalence of growing up; some kids embrace it while others want to stay a child a little longer. But kids are not going to appreciate that aspect at all, and are generally going to be very literal readers just as I am, and would be frustrated by all the unanswered questions. I would not recommend this book unless and until there is a sequel available to answer the mystery of the island and the children.

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