A short classic I never read until now. Reminded me a lot of Island of the Blue Dolphins– in that there’s a part where the boy has to survive alone on an island with just his dog, making all the things he needs- clothing from plants, weapons, shelter, etc. But otherwise quite different. About a boy who lives on a Polynesian island, where everyone makes their living on the sea. But he is afraid of it, since a traumatic incident where his mother died and he himself nearly drowned as a small child. He stays on land and perfects other skills: making nets, spearpoints, etc. The other boys mock him and the adults think he won’t amount to much. One day he just can’t stand it anymore and gritting his teeth, shoves his canoe out into the ocean alone. In the face of a storm, no less. With just his dog and a pet albatross following along. He barely makes it to the next island where has to do everything on his own, plus avoid the dangers of sharks, wrestle an octopus, find enough food -including hunting wild pigs- and start a fire from nothing. When he notices another island in the distance has smoke rising, and finds what appears to be an altar on the mountaintop (his island has a peak in the center, unlike the very flat one he came from) he fears that there are cannibals nearby who would use him in their terrible sacrifices. His main goal is to build a canoe so he can get back home, and hear the praise of his family and peers, when they see the proof of his bravery. He faces many challenges and overcomes all in the end, not without plenty of sweat and tears and a few injuries though. Darn good story.
Completed on 7/26/24.
