Scar Island

by Dan Gemeinhart Narrated by MacLeod Andrews

Overview

Dan Gemeinhart brings his signature blend of action, heart, and beautiful writing to a tale of misfits struggling to survive.

Jonathan Grisby is the newest arrival at the Slabhenge Reformatory School for Troubled Boys--an ancient, crumbling fortress of gray stone rising up from the ocean. It is dark, damp, and dismal. And it is just the place Jonathan figures he deserves.Because Jonathan has done something terrible. And he's willing to accept whatever punishment he has coming.Just as he's getting used to his new situation, however, a freak accident leaves the troubled boys of Slabhenge without any adult supervision. Suddenly the kids are free, with an entire island to themselves. But freedom brings unexpected danger. And if Jonathan can't come to terms with the sins of his past and lead his new friends to safety... then every boy on the island is doomed.Dan Gemeinhart's most gripping novel yet, this is a tale of misfits and outcasts at odds and in peril, and a redemption story that shines a light on dark truths to reveal that the strongest prisons of all are the ones we build for ourselves.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Praise for The Honest Truth:A New York Times Editors' Choice selectionAn Amazon.com Best Book of the MonthAn Indie Next List selection*"An emotionally hard-hitting survival story... A gripping page-turner." — Publishers Weekly, starred review"An impressive combination of suspenseful adventure thriller and cancer narrative... Touching but unsentimental, this is a deeply moving adventure." — Booklist"Gemeinhart presents a rousingly riveting two-hanky read." — Kirkus ReviewsPraise for Some Kind of Courage:*"This is true adventure with strong underpinnings of moral courage and love... Poignant and real." — Kirkus Reviews, starred review*"Exhilarating and enthralling, Courage promises even the most reluctant readers a breakneck adventure that will keep them turning the pages with utter devotion." — Booklist, starred review"This is a terrific book, morally thoughtful and wonderfully well told, that 9- to 14-year-olds are likely to cover at a gallop." — The Wall Street Journal

Kirkus Reviews

★ 2016-09-19
Lord of the Flies set on Alcatraz, with the Gothic sensibility of The Wolves of Willoughby Chase. Twelve-year-old Jonathan Grisby has been sentenced to 10 weeks at Slabhenge Reformatory for Troubled Boys, an enormous, decaying fortresslike island prison off an unknown coast, formerly an insane asylum, for a crime that has him staggering under his own guilt. At Slabhenge, rats run wild, a monster lurks behind a locked door, and 15 boys ages 10 through 14 cower in damp cells under the sadistic control of the head. That is, until Jonathan's first morning there, when a bolt of lightning kills every grown-up in the place without harming a single boy. At the urging of Sebastian, an older boy with dark urges toward control, and Jonathan, who cannot bear the thought of returning home, the multiracial inmates decide to stay awhile and enjoy a bit of freedom. They stick the dead bodies in the walk-in freezer, feast on the stores of food long denied them, and gradually fall under Sebastian's despotic rule. Before Sebastian can gain complete control or anything truly ugly can happen, a wild storm starts to break Scar Island apart. In finding the courage to rescue his companions, Jonathan finds the strength to face his past. It's grotesque, compelling, over-the-top, yet fully realized, and nothing like Gemeinhart's previous work. Children who respond to it well will read it over and over again. (Fiction. 8-12)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171290726
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	01/03/2017
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	8 - 11 Years

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