Island of the Blue Dolphins

By: Scott O'Dell

Narrated by: Christina Moore

"Our island is like a dolphin lying on its side, with its tail pointing toward the sunrise, its nose pointing to the sunset, and its fins making reefs and the rocky ledges along the shore."

Karana, a Ghalas-at Indian, lives peacefully on the island with her tribe until the arrival of a Russian otter-hunting ship. In spite of the deal the Aleutian hunters make with her father, the Ghalas-at chief, in the end they prove treacherous, killing most of the tribe. Karana's younger brother, Ramo, is all that is left of her family. Fearful of the Aleuts' return, the remaining Indians decide to move to another island, and are offered safe passage by some friendly ships. But as Karana boards the ship to leave the island forever, she is unable to find Ramo, and swims back to shore to search for him. Abandoned by the ships, Karana must draw on reserves of resourcefulness, and courage in order to survive.

Island of the Blue Dolphins is based on the true story of an Indian girl who lived for 18 years on an island off the coast of California.

©1960 Scott O'Dell (P)1992 Recorded Books, LLC

Love the book and the narrator

Listening to this brought me back to when I was 8 years old, reading this book and loving every word. Excellent audible book on all counts.

Female protagonist

The ease in which the white man took them all away from their home.the end

the telling of the story

I enjoyed the narrative and the fact that it was loosely told as fact. the details were beautiful and I would read it again.

Great book and narrator

I enjoyed the narration. They did a great job. I was entertained the entire time.

Childhood favorite

As a 5th grader, I adored this book and Karana’s story. My teacher had us write how we thought her story continued after she’d been rescued. It was my first foray into creative writing and received an A+ for my efforts and still have it to this day…. Proud of it! When my daughter told me she was reading it in school, I almost cried with happiness…. The most beautiful story of survival.