Island (novel series)

Island is a novel trilogy by Canadian author Gordon Korman. The books are set in contemporary times and designed for young teenagers.

The series consists of:

The book starts out in Guam with six kids assembling for a reform programming called "Charting a New Course" (CNC), all sent there by their parents to build character for certain reasons. There they meet Captain Cascadden and the first mate Mr. Radford and set sail on the pacific on the CNC schooner the SS Phoenix.

After a while they receive news that a freak storm has turned their way and are forced to brave it. During it, J.J. thinks it would be best to raise the sails and outrun the storm and tries to raise them himself. He is stopped by Luke but during the fight a wave knocks J.J. down and he accidentally presses the button to raise the sails. The electricity breaks and the captain attempts to lower the sails manually, but a freak wave washes him overboard.

The next day, Radford realizes the captain is gone and assumes command. Unfortunately, the ship is slowly sinking, and they cannot reach help via radio. Radford eventually leaves during one night using the ships small dinghy and takes the food supply with him. Realizing they have to do something, Lyssa attempts to get the motor working again and succeeds; but a freak accident causes the engine to explode setting ablaze most of the boat. J.J. and Lyssa are lost in the flames and chaos, but Luke, Will, Ian, and Charla escape on a piece of the main cabin's top. With one person hanging off because the raft isn't big enough, they drift through the pacific for days. Only Ian's know-how saves them because he remembers to bring a rubber hat to collect rainwater. Will eventually ends up drinking sea water out of desperation and passes out. The others follow suit until Luke is the only one conscious. They are saved by dolphins who drift them towards an island. On the island they are revived by a downpour of rain and have a toast to their fallen comrades and set off into the jungle to find food.

The three castaways go into the jungle looking for food, leaving the unconscious Will on the beach. They find Durians, a strange but edible fruit and go into a feeding frenzy having not eaten for weeks. They pass out for a while and awaken a few hours later fighting off a boar. They return to the beach to find a delirious Will who has amnesia and believes he is still on Guam. Despite the others trying to reason with him, explaining that his sister is dead, he runs off into the woods convinced he and his sister were kidnapped.

The others build a makeshift shelter and begin to forage for food and build signals. Ironically just as Ian explains that the chances of being rescued this early is almost impossible, a plane flies over-head and lands on the other side of the island. Believing they are rescuers, they run to the other side of the island only to witness a murder and learn that the men are illegal smugglers. While they are spying, another plane flies in and a watch dog detects their presence. They run back to camp and decide keeping a low profile is the only way to avoid capture, although it is inevitable.

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