The Islanders

by Mary Alice Monroe, Angela May Narrated by Michael Crouch

Overview

An instant New York Times bestseller!¿

“Storytelling for young readers at its finest-equal parts summer adventure and environmental suspense...[a] love letter to family, friendship, and the natural world.” -Kwame Alexander, New York Times bestselling author of The Crossover

From New York Times bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe comes a beautiful story of friendship, loss, and the healing power of nature in her first book for middle grade readers.

Eleven-year-old Jake's life has just turned upside-down. His father was wounded in Afghanistan, and his mother is going to leave to care for him. That means Jake's spending the summer on tiny Dewees Island with his grandmother. The island is a nature sanctuary-no cars or paved roads, no stores or restaurants. To make matters worse, Jake's grandmother doesn't believe in cable or the internet. Which means Jake has no cell phone, no video games...and no friends. This is going to be the worst summer ever!

He's barely on the island before he befriends two other kids-Macon, another “summer kid,” and Lovie, a know-it-all who lives there and shows both Jake and Macon the ropes of life on the island. All three are struggling with their own family issues and they quickly bond, going on adventures all over Dewees Island. Until one misadventure on an abandoned boat leads to community service. Their punishment? Mandatory duty on the Island Turtle Team. The kids must do a daily dawn patrol of the beach on the hunt for loggerhead sea turtle tracks. When a turtle nest is threatened by coyotes, the three friends must find a way to protect it. Can they save the turtle nest from predators? Can Jake's growing love for the island and its inhabitants (be they two-legged, four-legged, feathered, or finned) help to heal his father?

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

05/03/2021

In collaboration with journalist May, adult author Monroe makes her middle grade debut with this comforting beach read about the healing power of friendship and nature. When Jake’s military officer father is wounded in Afghanistan, necessitating a visit from Jake’s Air Force lieutenant colonel mother, the 11-year-old must visit his enterprising grandmother Honey on Dewees Island, S.C., the lush nature preserve where she lives. He dreads a summer without technology and his New Jersey friends, but meeting a fellow summer kid, fact lover Macon, and local island expert Lovie, a skilled boater, helps Jake engage with the island’s “Huck Finn life.” Discovering his father’s naturalist journals, Jake nurtures an ecological interest of his own that escalates when the three friends must serve community service on dawn turtle patrol after appropriating a boat they thought abandoned. The narrative handles weighty issues considerately, including Lovie’s feelings about her biological father and how the boat incident affects Macon, who is Black, more than his cued-white friends. If the fact that each friend harbors a secret feels a bit tidy, the small-town community instills a strong sense of place, and the trio’s chemistry holds promise for future installments. Includes resources about the island and its wildlife. Ages 8–12. (June)

Kwame Alexander

This is storytelling for young readers at its finest—equal parts summer adventure and environmental suspense, The Islanders is a middle-grade love letter to family, friendship, and the natural world.

School Library Journal

06/01/2021

Gr 3–6—Jake Potter, a military kid, finds himself stuck for the summer on a remote South Carolina island with his grandmother. His dad has been injured in the field, and his mom needs to go and care for him. With the injury to worry about and no phone, internet, or video games, Jake slowly begins to explore the island and make friends with two other 11-year-olds. At first depressed, his grandmother begins to perk up as Jake makes discoveries. Jake, who is white, and his friends Lovie, who is also white, and Macon, who is Black, find a loggerhead turtle nest on the beach and work to protect it. Monroe and May's middle grade debut is a thoroughly wholesome adventure, but younger readers may enjoy this story more than middle schoolers. The descriptions of the island's wildlife are vibrant, and young animal lovers will be delighted at the information about turtles and other animals. Otherwise, the plot unfolds quite slowly, without many points of conflict or the character development that would give the book emotional resonance. VERDICT A good purchase for elementary collections where there are budding naturalists. A secondary purchase otherwise.—Kate Fleming, Hosford M.S., Portland, OR

Kirkus Reviews

2021-04-27
Eleven-year-old New Jersey boy Jake spends the summer with his grandmother on Dewees Island, South Carolina.

Jake’s Air Force mom must remain with his dad, who was severely injured while serving in Afghanistan, leaving Jake with no other options. He narrates his own tale, admitting his all-consuming fears for his dad. Grandmother Honey appears somewhat unkempt. She is easily tired and lives in a messy house with a refrigerator containing spoiled food, a result of a long depression after being widowed. Despite the lack of internet, Jake grows to love his loft bedroom surrounded by his dad’s childhood books and nature journals. Honey gives him chores and insists that he spend his time outdoors exploring the island and recording his observations in his own journal. Saving his writing for descriptive letters to his dad, Jake prefers to draw what he sees, and his pencil sketches enhance the sense of place. Jake’s new friends, Lovie and Macon, share his adventures, and the friends encourage each other, providing comfort and understanding when needed. With guidance from a newly energized Honey, they even become absorbed in protecting loggerhead turtle nests. Monroe and May seamlessly incorporate fascinating nature facts into a tale of Jake’s adventures and near disasters. Readers will admire Jake’s compassion, perseverance, and strength and find themselves moved to laughter and tears as his summer unfolds. Most major characters are assumed White; Macon is Black.

A tender, warmhearted tale in a memorable setting. (sources) (Fiction. 8-12)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940177479477
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster
Publication date:	06/15/2021
Series:	The Islanders
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	8 - 11 Years

Read an Excerpt

Chapter 1: The Ferry to Nowhere

CHAPTER 1 The Ferry to Nowhere
We each have to do our part.

THIS WAS GOING TO BE the worst summer ever! Here I was, waiting for a ferry, forced to spend my entire summer vacation living with my grandma in the middle of nowhere.

Baaaaamp! Loud horn blasts from the ferryboat vibrated the long wooden dock. My stomach twisted at the sound.

“It’s time to board, Jake,” Mom said.

I could tell her smile was fake. I hadn’t seen a real smile on her face for weeks. But neither of us felt like smiling after the phone call about what happened to Dad.

A big sign over the dock read DEWEES ISLAND FERRY. A lot of people were waiting for the white double-decker, standing near their metal carts filled with groceries, suitcases, fishing poles, tackle boxes, even beach chairs. Two small dogs barked in excitement as they trotted past me on leash.

“Do I have to go?” I asked my mom in a last-ditch effort. “I want to stay with you. Please! I’ll be good. I promise.”

Mom’s shoulders slumped. “Jake, we’ve been over and over this. I don’t know how long I’ll be there, and I can’t leave you alone in a rental all day.”

I was trying to be strong. But her words made me explode.

“It’s not fair! You’re dumping me on that island! What kind of summer vacation is this?”

I knew I had crossed the line. Mom was a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force and flew those giant C-17 transport planes. She was all about duty and following orders. She stepped closer to me, lowering her voice.

“I know you don’t want to go,” she said. I saw a flash of sadness in her eyes. Then she straightened her shoulders and I heard the commander in her voice. “We have to do what’s best for your father now and put our personal wants aside. We don’t know how bad he’s been hurt or how long his recovery will be. This isn’t a vacation, Jake. We each have to do our part. For Dad.”

I lowered my head, ashamed. Still, it was hard hearing that my dad was hurt but not knowing how bad or what happened to him.

“It isn’t good for you to sit around in hospitals all summer. And,” she said, reaching out to lift my chin so I looked into her eyes, “your grandmother needs you. She’s worried about your dad too.”

“I know, but...” I paused to take a shaky breath in. “I want to see him.”

“I know you do. But remember, you’re helping your dad by helping Honey. He’ll feel better knowing you’re with her.”

I scrunched my face and nodded in understanding.

I met her eyes and she flashed a soft smile.

“You’re in charge now, Private.”

She got me there. My dad was an officer in the Army, and he always called me Private. I tugged at my Army ball cap to hide my eyes.

“Yeah,” was all I could muster through the lump in my throat.

“All aboard!” called out the ferry captain.

“Let’s go!” said Mom, trying to be cheerful. I felt her gently nudge my back.

We walked down a metal ramp to the waiting ferry. The mate greeted us and wheeled my cart of stuff on board with everyone else’s belongings.

“I’ll call you as soon as I know anything,” Mom said, and then leaned in to kiss my cheek. “You’ll love Dewees Island. There’s so much to do—the beach, the woods. You had the best time when you were there before.”

“I was six, Mom.”

“Well, you’re almost twelve now, so that means you’ll have twice as much fun.”

“Right. It’s going to be great stuck on an island with no cars allowed, or stores, or restaurants. Are there even people there, other than Honey?”

“Of course there are.”

“At least I can game online with Carlos and Nick.”

Mom’s face cringed. “Well...” She hesitated. “There isn’t any Wi-Fi.”

“What!” I couldn’t believe there was a place on earth without Wi-Fi.

“You mean I not only have to spend my summer away from my friends, I’m stuck alone on some faraway island with my grandma? And I have no internet?” My jaw hung wide open in disbelief. “Tell me you’re joking.”

Mom laughed. I hadn’t heard her laugh since the first phone call about Dad.

“Come on, Jake. You’ve endured far worse. There’s Wi-Fi on the island, just not at Honey’s house. She doesn’t think she needs the internet.” Her voice lowered. “Your grandmother can have strong opinions about things.”

“Or she’s just weird,” I muttered. I had thought things couldn’t get any worse, but they just did.

“Ready!” called out the captain, opening wide the passenger door. He was urging us to go.

“Time to move,” Mom said, trying to sound cheery.

I puffed out my breath. Being a military family, we moved around a lot. I was always the new kid and making friends. I was used to saying goodbye to my parents.

But it never got easier.

“Bye,” I said, looking down.

Mom gave me a quick final hug. I didn’t want to return it. My arms hung limp at my sides.

She stepped off the ferry back onto the deck. I looked over my shoulder to see her walking down the dock, shoulders slumped.

“Mom!” I called out.

She stopped and turned as I ran toward her. She opened her arms, and I ran into them and hugged her with all my might.

“I’ll miss you, Mom,” I said, my face muffled in her chest.

I felt her arms tighten around me. “I’ll miss you too.” She kissed my cheek and I could see the tears in her eyes, just like mine.

“I’ll call you!” she said.

“I love you, Mom,” I called out as I ran back to the boat. The captain waved me inside and shut the door behind me.

Inside, the benches were filling up. I raced up the stairs to the top deck of the ferry. The sun glared hot in the sky, making the metal railing warm to the touch as I leaned over to wave goodbye to Mom.

But she was already gone.

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