The Island trilogy, Book 1 Gordon Korman Scholastic Fiction, MG Action/Thriller Themes: Cross-Genre, Seafaring Tales ****
Description
Charting New Courses advertised itself as a life-changing experience for troubled youth, taking them aboard the working
schooner Phoenix in the Pacific Ocean to teach them teamwork and discipline and other life skills. Nobody asked
the "troubled youth" what they thought of the plan, though of course none of them have a say in the matter. Luke is here
as part of a plea deal after being caught with a firearm in his school locker. J.J.'s increasingly dramatic stunts to get
his actor father's attention ended with a motorcycle flying through an art gallery window and Dad finally running out of
patience. Will and Lyssa's sibling rivalry culminated in violence that landed them both in the hospital. Charla's athletic
talent became an obsession, while Ian's parents just wanted to force him out of the house and away from the TV and
internet that absorbed all of his time. None of them really expect anything like what Charting New Courses promised their
parents; it's just going to be a few weeks of misery and drudgery and seasickness, then back to their normal lives.
The sea has its own agenda, however, and soon drudgery's the last of their worries, when a storm takes out their engines,
their captain, and their hopes of survival.
Review
While it may not break new ground in the survival/thriller subgenre, Shipwreck takes a credible turn at a
familiar idea, with a cast of kids carrying personal baggage into a situation that's literally life and death. Friction
flies between them almost from the start; Will and Lyssa can't go five seconds without antagonizing each other, while
J.J.'s spoiled brat persona (and conviction that the dangers they face are just part of the program, rigged or arranged
by CNC for "character building") gets on everyone's nerves. The first mate, dubbed Ratface, doesn't help much, his
antipathy towards the troubled youth clear from the outset; he doesn't even bother learning names, just calling all males
"Archie" and females "Veronica". The storm, naturally, levels the playing field, a situation made worse by one character's
impulsive and ill-thought actions and another's rank cowardice in the face of calamity. Given that this is the first in a
trilogy, it goes without saying that they're still in a decent level of danger by the end... those who get through the
storm, at least.
Not long ago, they were six strangers, sent on a "character building" adventure aboard the schooner Phoenix
in the Pacific Ocean. Now, stranded on an uncharted island, they're each other's only chance at survival. It seemed
that getting off the deadly waters would improve their situation, but while there's food aplenty to be scrounged in the
jungles and lagoons, there's no fresh water... and, worse, no sign of boats or planes or anyone else passing near
enough to signal for help. Will is also suffering a form of amnesiac delusion, convinced he's been abducted and the
others are out to get him. Then they learn that they aren't, in fact, the only people who know about the island - and
the people who do know about it are not the kind of people they want to be found by. They're the kind of people who
shoot companions in cold blood, let alone perfect strangers.
Review
This continues the trilogy on the unnamed, uncharted desert island. The kids start coming together into a group for
mutual survival, though friction still lies just under the surface. TV addict Ian finds his knowledge from endless
hours parked in front of documentary shows coming in handy, while Charla's athleticism comes in very handy for snagging
fish and knocking down coconuts and Luke finds himself thrust into a leadership role. The arrival of bad guys adds an
extra layer of danger and dread, if a mildly contrived one. (One starts to wonder if J.J. has a bit of a point about it
maybe all being staged.) It loses a half-mark for that sense of contrivance, plus drawing out Will's delusional
isolation and J.J.'s obnoxious insistence on none of it being real. Still, it keeps the tension pretty high and sets up
even more trouble going into the final volume.
First the storm and explosion destroyed the schooner Phoenix, where their parents had sent the six troubled
youth to learn life skills. Then the island that was their salvation from death at sea turns out to be a meeting spot
for dangerous smugglers. Now they've discovered a new danger - a top secret atomic bomb from World War II - hidden on
the island. Plus one of their own, Will, has a bullet wound to the leg, which could easily turn septic in the tropical
heat and germ-ridden jungle. With odds of rescue via passing ship or plane essentially nil and Will getting sicker by
the day, Luke and the others are pushed to a desperate plan, a Hail Mary plan that will either get them help, or get
them all killed.
Review
The third and final installment finally brings all the kids together in the same reality; Will rejoins his sister
and the others after his self-imposed exile and J.J. finally has to shake off his persistent belief in "rigged" events
and hidden cameras (which even he was starting to admit to himself was more about the fantasy of safety just around the
corner than actually believing some hidden camera crew and project director would let them nearly die on multiple
occasions to build character in wayward children) and step up to the plate to help his fellow castaways. Using equipment
and drugs scavenged from the old military base, the kids struggle to survive, but each of them understands that they're
only putting off the inevitable if they can't find a way off this island. Their plan involves putting one of them in
immediate peril in the off chance that doing so will result in survival for all, but it's a long shot, and they all know
it. The stakes have never been higher, and it comes together in a thrill ride of a climax and a conclusion that doesn't
overstay its welcome. Overall, the Island trilogy's a decent, fast-reading tale of survival and danger.
Gordon Korman Scholastic Fiction, MG General Fiction Themes: Schools ****
Description
The fall is the first thing Chase Ambrose remembers when he wakes up in the hospital... and the only thing he
remembers. He was falling from - where? Why? And who are these people in his room who seem so happy he's back? The
doctor tells him he was unconscious for four days, and that, aside from a concussion and a shoulder injury (and the
amnesia), everything's fine. But Chase knows from the start that not everything is, in fact, fine. His kid
stepsister's clearly afraid of him. His mother's walking on eggshells. And when he finally gets back to school -
apparently he was the captain of the football team? - he gets a lot of strange, scared looks from teachers and
students alike, and the only ones to greet him as friends are brash bullies. Just who was Chase Ambrose in the
thirteen years he can't remember... and is he destined, despite his best efforts, to become that monster again?
Review
Are bullies born or made - and can they ever be redeemed or "cured"? That question is at the heart of
Restart, and the heart of Chase's inner dilemma.
Though he has no memory of it, he and his two best friends were notorious not only in their junior high but in the
town at large. He hasn't even reached high school and he's already on the verge of having a permanent criminal
record. As is all too common, the adults who should be able to stop such behavior back down, under pressure from
parents or school boards or the fear of lawsuits or simply rationalizing that the benefits to the school (Chase
and the others being star athletes) outweigh the reign of terror and lifelong scars left by bullies. The problem
feeds on itself, as the bullies keep getting away with increasingly atrocious behavior and their victims see them
getting away with it and feel even more helpless (or even maybe like they must deserve it, if nobody will help
them)... which is how we end up with grown adults who behave in monstrous ways being rewarded by society and the
victims admonished to not "rock the boat" by calling out their appalling, harmful behavior. Even Chase's father,
an ex-jock reliving his glory days vicariously through his son, all but comes out and says he approves of Chase's
bullying behavior, the old "boys will be boys" and "it toughens kids up" excuses that ring so hollow to those
literally chased out of their schools and homes after being targeted. It takes a literal knock to the skull for
Chase to break the cycle. The boy who walks out of the hospital does not seem to be the same one who tied kids to
tether ball poles or set off cherry bombs during a piano recital, and the more he learns about what he did, the
more horrified Chase becomes about the old him, the monster him... even as he starts finding hints of that old
self resurfacing.
The book switches viewpoints to other characters in several chapters, as Chase's former victims are first confused
by the change, then slowly come to accept that there might be a decent person emerging from the "alpha rat"...
even as Chase's old friends worry that the "new" Chase will get them into far more trouble over one of their last
stunts. It misses a bit of an opportunity as it doesn't try to explore the roots of Chase's behavior, but then
there really isn't a valid excuse for behavior like pulling the head off a kid's favorite toy or casually knocking
a stranger into a fountain hard enough to require stitches. Even his old friends, in their point of view chapters,
don't seem to know why they're behaving like they are; they just feel entitled to it, and see bullying as an
acceptable way to entertain themselves and get what they want (and why shouldn't they, when they're never stopped
and are even rewarded for it... when they know that even the principal of their school will accept the flimsiest
of excuses not to actually have to deal with the problem, victims and property damage be damned?). As the tale
unfolds, Chase and the others must grapple with the central question of whether a leopard can truly change his
spots... or, rather, whether the bully Chase was the real Chase all along, any changes wrought by trauma being
temporary aberrations. Unlike the vast majority of his real-life counterparts, Chase actually confronts the damage
he has done and lives he has wrecked, and faces the judgment of his peers (and the grown-ups around them). There
are some humorous moments and some serious moments and some moments of harsh self-reflection where easy answers
just do not exist. The ending feels a little neat, and as mentioned previously I think Korman sidestepped some
potentially rich ground to dig into, even lightly, over what actually started the bullying cycle in Chase and if
mere amnesia can short-circuit that root cause. (There is possibly a little bit implied in his father's myopic
fixation on football as the ends that justify all behaviors, but that alone doesn't seem sufficient given the
severe escalation of old Chase's terrible behavior.)
Overall, I decided to round up to a solid Good rating, though anyone who has ever been on the wrong end of bullies
(hand raised, here) will likely recognize just how much literary license Korman employed to come up with a
remotely satisfactory conclusion...
