My love affair with dolphins only increased through reading some of the best young adult books I believe have ever been written, featuring a girl and her dolphins. All intensifying my own personal viewpoint that, like unicorns (and Hippogriffs) dolphins only appear when you really need them, and only, like the Great Pumpkin, if you’re really sincere. I honestly don’t know which came first: my love of the sea, and silvery, joyous dolphins in particular, or the YA lit with dolphins in a starring role. Because when I go back and re-read my favorite girl-and-her-dolphin books, memories come flooding back to me along with the adventures. And it’s all good stuff. There are tons of books out there featuring our best friends of the sea, but I’m just talking about the classic, possibly semi-fictional, non-cartoon versions. My three favorites, then: A Ring of Endless Light, by Madeline L’Engle Island of the Blue Dolphins, by Scott O’Dell A Pacific island that looks like big fish sunning itself in the sea, surrounded by dolphins, otters, cormorants, and populated with wild dogs. After her family and tribe take off for the mainland (Santa Barbara, California), Karana, who literally missed the boat chasing after her adored but naturally annoying baby brother, spends 18 years alone on the island, building shelter, hunting for food, gathering supplies, and being an all around young adult bad-ass. This is a fictionalized account of a very true story. Karana makes friends with the dogs, and, naturally the dolphins, and sets up home at Coral Cove, where the view of the sea is like “gazing upon a flat blue stone without any scratches.” Reading this book, I imagined lazy days fitting a spear for fishing and combing my hair on the tidepools, mermaid style. As long as no red sails (or, present day, behemoth oil rigs) appear on the horizon, things should be fine. The continual debate I have with myself about this book is the ending. Karana is ‘rescued’ and goes to join her remaining tribe at the Mission, leaving the relative peace and oneness with the world of her island behind. Now we’re all dreaming of a return to simple, green living, and our own private island is the stuff of lottery winning fantasies. So I ask you: is Karana’s ending a happy one? Dolphin Island, by Arthur C. Clarke This is just the tip of the iceberg – so please feel free to add your favorite suggestions.
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