Scar Island (paperback)
by Dan Gemeinhart
Scar Island is the nickname given to Slabhenge, where kids go when they are sentenced to serve time in a correctional facility, like juvenile hall, but on an island where they will be reformed. Jonathan arrives with so much guilt and self-hate, he isn’t scared about what will happen to him. He feels he deserves whatever he has coming to him. His crime isn’t made known to us until later (although I guessed early on), but he is on the island with 15 other kids with abusive caretakers. About a 1/4 of the way through, the kids find themselves on their own to fend for themselves, and it is much like Lord of the Flies with a kid who is picked on, a kid who is power-hungry, one who is smarter and braver than them all, and the followers. The kids find themselves in some real danger when a hurricane arrives on the island and Scar Island begins to fall apart, brick by brick. You will want to keep reading to find out what Jonathan’s crime was, and how they get off the island.
What I liked about this book was that it kept me reading. I don’t normally like to take a week on a book, and this only took me 4 days, which is longer than I’d want to read a book during a vacation. What was more compelling was Jonathan’s story and watching him change as he came to grips with his “crime” and his view of himself.
What I didn’t like about this book was that it was kind of predictable. I was wondering the whole time if William Golding knew Gemeinhart took his idea from Lord of the Flies, but then I realized that was intentional, as Gemeinhart referred to the book (and several others, including Treasure Island). I thought that was an interesting thing to include, but I still found parts too predictable for me. Perhaps not to a kid, though.
Book 24 of 40
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