Author: S.A. Bodeen
Series: Shipwreck Island #1
Publisher: Macmillan Children's Publishing Group
Publication Date: June 29th, 2014
Source: From Publisher via NetGalley
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Sarah Robinson is deeply troubled in the wake of her dad’s second marriage. She now has to deal with a new stepmom and two stepbrothers, Marco, who is her age, and Nacho, who’s younger. Even though they’ve all moved from Texas to California to start life as a new, blended family, none of the kids seem remotely happy about it.
Sarah’s dad and stepmom then decide to take the whole family on a special vacation in order to break the ice and have everyone get to know one another. They’ll fly to Tahiti, charter a boat, and go sailing for a few days. It’ll be an adventure, right?
Wrong. Dead wrong. Shipwreck Island is the first installment in a series from S.A. Bodeen.
Anyway, I still would have requested and read it otherwise, but maybe I wouldn’t have been so surprised when it just stopped. I mean, it just stops. No real leading into the next book, just….
*cricket sounds*
It’s told from two point of views. Marco and Sarah. Their parents have married and neither are happy about it. Sarah is a bit of a spoiled snot, honestly, and she was hard to stomach at times. I think by the end of the series she will grow up a lot.
Shipwreck Island was fun. I haven’t read middle grade in a while so I had to adjust to the main characters only being 12. No swoon scenes here. I was pretty sure from the description that this would be a survival story. You know, surviving on a deserted island. That’s interesting stuff. I was wrong though, this is not a normal island. There is definitely some survival stuff but weird things started happening and the story began to take on a paranormal feel.
And then… it stopped. Things just started to get crazy and interesting. I was sad in my heart. I guess I’ll have to wait for the next installment. What I read so far, I liked. It wasn’t blow me away amazing, but it was fast and interesting. I think I'll continue with this series. :)
About the author:
Also writes as Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen.
Stephanie is the award-winning author of the Elizabeti's Doll series of picture books, as well as several others. Her first young adult novel The Compound was released in 2008 and recently won the Maryland BlackEyedSusan Award, Nebraska Golden Sower Award, and the Indiana Young Hoosier Award. Her second YA The Gardener was featured on Good Morning America as a Best Summer Teen Read, and her third YA The Raft was recently named a 2013 Tayshas list title. The Fallout will be released September 2013 from Feiwel and Friends/MacMillan
Find Stephanie:
Website | Facebook | Goodreads
I haven't read middle grade in awhile, either. Not a huge fan of deserted island stories -- except LOST, that show was amazing -- but I like when there are paranormal elements at play, obvs. Sucks about the non-ending, though. I read one recently like that but it was a cliffy, too, so it was double the suckage.
ReplyDeleteOh see, I love the deserted island stuff. And the cliffy probably wouldn't have bothered me, but the book was so short, I mean like tiny.
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