From: Steven
Date: Mon, 20 Jul 1998 09:03:46 -0800 (PST)

I only just read "The Islander" and wasn't overwhelmed by it. It's well written, and I think most of the things said here about it are probably true, but it never gripped me personally, and I wonder how young readers will respond as well.. It's unusual, beautiful in a way, magical...all those words seem true. At the same time, I was a little put off by the distance I felt from the character. He always seemed like an author's creation, made up specifically in order to meet a mermaid, find a key, rescue a girl, join a community, and convey to us lessons about life. Which is all fine in a fairy tale, but he's presented as more than a fairy tale character. I felt that I was supposed to respond to him as a person, emotionally, yet didn't. Obviously Rylant was not trying to write an conventional novel, and maybe that's what I'm mistakenly looking for. I had similar problems with Paul Fleischman's "Whirligig," so maybe it's just me, and I don't "get" this genre?

-------------------------------------------------------Steven Engelfried, West Linn Public Library 1595 Burns Streeet West Linn, OR 97068 ph: 503e6x57 fax: 503e6'46 e-mail: steven at westlinn.lib.or.us
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Received on Mon 20 Jul 1998 12:03:46 PM CDT