Zia

Island of the Blue Dolphins #2

by Scott O'Dell

A young Indian girl, caught between the traditional world of her mother and the present world of the mission, is helped by her Aunt Karana, whose story was told in Island of the Blue Dolphins.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Fiction, Childrens, Middle Grade, Historical, Native American

208 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 29, 1976

About the author

Scott O'Dell was an American author celebrated for his historical fiction, especially novels for young readers. He is best known for Island of the Blue Dolphins, a classic that earned the Newbery Medal and has been translated into many languages and adapted for film. Over his career he wrote more than two dozen novels for young people, as well as works of nonfiction and adult fiction, often drawing on the history and landscapes of California and Mexico. His books, including The King’s Fifth, The Black Pearl, and Sing Down the Moon, earned him multiple Newbery Honors and a wide readership. O'Dell received numerous awards for his contribution to children’s literature, among them the Hans Christian Andersen Award and the Regina Medal. In 1984, he established the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction to encourage outstanding works in the genre.

Reviews

[karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

fulfilling my vow to read all the sequels i never knew existed to books i loved when i was little.

Island of the Blue Dolphins came out in 1960 and it won a million awards and everyone fell in love with scott o’dell and to this day many people still rank that book among their “most beloveds” in their heartshelves.

so then, why does no one know there was a sequel?? okay, some people knew, and you are all booknerd superstars, but the rest of us were kept in the dark about it, even those of us who got into college by writing an essay about Island of the Blue Dolphins.

but now i’m all caught up.

and i kind of wish i never knew that this existed.

because it’s not great. it’s not great in that it’s not a very interesting story, but it also doesn’t add a thing to what all the blue dolphin fans loved: the story of karana - a girl left behind on an island when her people sailed away and she was forced to survive alone among the wild animals, exposed to the elements, enduring the isolation, before she rallied like a boss and became a feather-clad badass living in a house made of whalebones and how you like me now, giant squid?



this one is nothing like that. zia is karana’s niece, and this book is SUPPOSEBLY about her and her younger brother mando taking to the high seas in a little boat that washed up on their shore in order to rescue karana from her island which is…wait for it…60 miles away.

pause for math. this takes place 18 years after karana was left behind, 60 miles away, among seafaring people. zia is only 14, so she’s never even met karana, but apparently she’s the only one willing to give that epic 60-mile journey a shot to bring her aunt back to the fold. even mando's just going along to fish along the way. thanks, family!

anyway, so karana’s niece and nephew do indeed set out in their little boat, but they don’t get far and they end up right where they started, so this “journey filled with danger and adventure - and a reunion” promised on the back cover is a bit misleading. these aren’t plucky kids pulling off a rescue mission; when they fail, zia eventually convinces a dude who's already going there to hunt otter; a man who had seen karana’s footprints there years ago - caught a glimpse of her fleeing when he landed ashore, to bring a priest along with him to see if he could find karana and bring her back. she tries to invite herself, but no luck:

”I would like to go, too,” I said to Captain Nidever. “You told me once that you would think about it.”

Captain Nidever replied, “I’ve thought. I’ve given it much thought. Many times.”

I could tell by his words and by the way he said them that he had made up his mind.

“You could cook for us and use an oar if need be, but we lack room. There is no place for you in such a small boat.”

I said no more. I could tell that he had never thought of taking me. But still I was happy that someone was going at last. Whether I could go or not mattered only to me.

well, not only to you - also to the fans of the first book who were looking forward to seeing a girl as brave and resourceful as karana - someone with her fierce blood running through her veins - valiantly restore karana to her people, but i guess delegating that task to some guy is cool, too.

that particular passage takes place on page 81. the first sighting of karana is on page 133. the book is 179 mass market pages long. which means that fewer than 50 pages have any karana content whatsoever.

and it gets better. because karana shares a language with NO ONE and is therefore unable to communicate in any significant way with anyone or tell her story or give readers any satisfaction at all.

her cousin relates:

I wanted to know about the Island of the Blue Dolphins and how she had lived there and what she had thought, but this I never learned.

well that’s just great. when the first sentence of your back cover copy is What happened to Karana of the Island of the Blue Dolphins?, what you really want to give the fans you roped in with that bait is a shrug and a “dunno” 140 pages in.



zia is the most boring narrator of all time. i was going to type some excerpts of her speech and thought-balloons, but they were simply too, too boring. the whole book is just “life with missionaries who wish to convert ‘heathens’ and how the heathens feel about that” in which dialogue is flat, emotions run lukewarm, and rebellion is accomplished by walking away.

but all of that ain’t nothing. the real reason this book is the poorest excuse for a sequel ever is this: karana fucking DIES. she is given < 50 pages of presence, she can’t talk about the past 18 years of adventure and loneliness and survival skills, and then she’s killed off like some victorian cousin by some unspecified illness. “shrug,” says scott o’dell. “dunno.”



getting more of karana’s story and reacquainting ourselves with her character is LITERALLY the only reason to read a sequel. or to write a sequel, for that matter. and o’dell DENIES us that for WHY? for WHAT REASON? what is the need for this book to exist?? and while i’m bitching, 18 years after IOTBD leaves off, that’s probably also another dog altogether that karana’s got with her. we are given NOTHING in the way of closure nor even the bare minimum of nostalgia-brimming reunions.

in the 16 years between writing these books, scott o’dell became, like all dolphins everywhere, a monster.


********************************************

sometimes there's a reason no one ever got the word out about the existence of a sequel to a well-loved children's book.

review to come...

come to my blog!

[Dawn Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I could have gone my whole life without reading this and I would have been fine living in my delusions of the girl and her dog on the Island of the Blue Dolphins. I know people wanted a sequel, but this was not what I expected NOR what I [and I am sure others] wanted. It was very sad and frustrating and I was so ready for the book to be done before it was even halfway through. And then the end left me angry and sad and frustrated with our history and how this country has treated people that they deem inferior to them...ERGH.

[jess · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book because, of course, I love Island of the Blue Dolphins. This is a very different kind of book, and though Karana is in it, it is more historical fiction about the conditions of native people around the time of the Spanish Missions in California. It follows Zia, Karana's niece, who lives in a Mission on the coast. She dreams of taking a boat to the Island of the Blue Dolphins to rescue her aunt. Life is not easy for the indigenous people who live and work in the Mission. The descriptions of the Mission's exploitation of the indigenous populations is historically accurate, more or less, including the unpaid farm labor, the white men's diseases, etc. This book does a good job of breaking down the why's and how's so kids could get a better understanding of how unjust situations came to be.

Overall, this book really bummed me out, and not in a heart-wrenching, fist-shaking, full-body-weeping kind of way. Just like "uhm, that was a downer."

[Courtney Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

KARANA 🥲
Zia is a bit saucy and I wish she could of had more time with her aunt. Love that she took up caring for the animals. I wasn’t digging Karana not gelling with society. Cmon man.

[Jaclyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was rather disappointing after getting so close to Karana in Island of the Blue Dolphins. I understand this is meant for a younger audience, but I found it pretty dull. Zia and her brother, Mando, are fairly flat characters who attempt to sail in a small boat to Karana's island with the approval of their family. They are about twelve years old, and the island is sixty miles away over open ocean. Not much is explained about Zia's mother, who is Karana's sister, who her father was/is, or much about Karana other than she learned a little bit of Spanish.

SPOILERS

Karana's death is the most pitiful literary death I have ever read. Having her die on an island she hates while yearning for her home is heartbreaking. The people who 'saved' her leave her to die in a cave, with no one but her niece to help her with her sickness. No one, except for Zia, makes an effort to teach her Spanish or help her acclimate to her new surroundings, and when it became apparent she was unhappy, no one thought to take her back to her island. I wish I hadn't read this book so I could continue to see Karana as a strong, magnificent woman, not a castaway who runs from sailors and acts like a savage.

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zia is a native American girl who lives at the Spanish mission in Santa Cruz. She is determined to travel to the island off the coast where her aunt was last seen many years earlier.

When a boat washes up on the beach she finally has a means to get there and be reunited with her mother's sister but the island is remote and the voyage will be difficult.


Zia is a children's book aimed at kids who are just starting to read chapter books. It's a quick read about the determination of one young girl to be reunited with her family.

I loved this book. Despite being a children's book I was completely enamored. It gets my highest recommendation for children who are at that developmental stage.

[Readasaurus Rex · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring

Boring boring boring
They find Karana and bring her back with them
They eat a lot of melon
Katana gets sick and dies

That's the whole freaking book

[Tatevik · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a quick read, a nice coming of age story with ocean, adventures, summertime vibes. This is the second part of the Island of the Blue Dolphins. I didn’t remember much about the first book, however I see I rated it five stars. This one lacked character development, wasn’t that interesting, was difficult to follow. However, this was a good way to introduce the historical part about California and the natives living there. As I didn’t know anything, I got interested. When I read something like this and think how much harm we caused to nature and natural development of humans during the last 500-1000 years, I remind myself that we did worse just at the beginning of the time.

[ElsaMakotoRenge · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was good, but it was also just plain depressing. I honestly wish I hadn't read it. Poor Karana. Island of the Blue Dolphins was a favorite book for me when I was little, and I feel like the original ending got ruined. Literally there is nothing WRONG with Zia, I just didn't like it nearly as much as I hoped.

It is a good book, just be aware that it's NOT a happy book, and the ending you remember from Island of the Blue Dolphins will be ruined.

[A · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was this supposed to be a continuation of 'Island of the Blue dolphins'? Now I kind of understand how I never got to know about it.

The first book, amazing. The second one, I really wish I never bothered to read it. It really isn't good at all, I didn't enjoy it either. Overall waste of time.

1.5/5

[Angela R. Watts · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was bad. Boring. Dull. Nada. I liked the first book when I read it years ago, but this one no...

[Heather Steele · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you're looking for more of the beauty and wonder of Island of the Blue Dolphins...look somewhere else. This book is dark, dreary, and depressing as all hell.

Karana's niece wants to rescue her from the island where she was left behind so many years ago. But all of the natives who came from the Island all those years ago have died from disease. Karana's niece and nephew are all that remain. So when Karana arrives, there is no one left who speaks her language, and she can't adapt to the new world she was "rescued" to.

The Spanish missionaries are unkind and uncompromising. She ends up retreating to a dingy cave to live out her days with her dog, just as lonely as she was before...only in an ugly place, surrounded by monsters masquerading as missionaries. Then she becomes sick, just like all the others before her.

There is nothing redeeming about this book, and you will not feel anything but extreme depression after reading it. My advice is to read Island of the Blue Dolphins, and then pretend you never heard there was a sequel.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, that was disappointing.

In the sequel to Island of the Blue Dolphins, we meet Karana's niece, Zia, who lives in a Spanish mission and is trying to find a way to rescue Karana from the island of the Blue Dolphins. Not much happens. Zia and her brother find a whaling boat and are temporarily kidnapped by pirates. The native Americans at the mission realize that they've become slaves and run away. And Karana is finally resucued from the Island of the Blue Dolphins only to be a fish out of water. But so much of this book is just filled with nothingness. My 7-year-old loved it. I was wishing it to be over before the first disk out of 4 was halfway through.

This book could have said something profound about the Spanish subjugation of the natives of North and South America, but it mainly fell flat. Sadly, the sequel to one of your favorite books from childhood really isn't worth the read.

[Krizia Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was boring. The first book was definitely better than this one. It does not have the same anticipation and climax as the first book. There are also a lot of information left out. I would love to know more about Zia but the book was more centered on Karana and how Zia felt about her. The title should have been "Karana". Mando was not even present most of the time. I only got to see him in several chapters. I would love to see the dynamics between Zia and Mando more. The book is not what I have expected.

[Brooke W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zia was good, but there wasn't anything outstanding to me. I liked Island of the Blue Dolphins better.

[Maura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zia is Karana's niece who is living among the missions and working, but only because she wanted a chance to get close to the Island of the Blue Dolphins, where her aunt still lives alone. When Zia and her brother find a boat, they refit it and try to sail to the Island - Zia to find their niece, her brother to catch the largest fish. Things don't work out and Zia ends up back at the mission and instead asks a trader to bring back her aunt. In the meantime, the other Indians at the mission are increasingly unhappy with the work they are doing and the little reward for it, so they make plans to escape. Zia remains behind to wait for her aunt, but this backfires because she is jailed for aiding their escape (and subsequent theft of mission and local ranch property). But then at last, Karana arrives at the mission, but has some serious adjustments to make in order to adapt to her new life. Zia tries to help and understand and learn from her aunt.

Thank goodness I don't remember much of the first book and wasn't so attached to Karana because she totally dies before the end of this book and Zia never does really learn about the Island of the Blue Dolphins. I couldn't really pinpoint the purpose of this one...I mean, Zia isn't successful in her adventure, she doesn't end the book with any long-lasting relationships (except perhaps the dog) and I can't figure out what she really learns...except maybe that she wants to go home and that's where she belongs. This is really kinda depressing if you think about it, especially upsetting was the fact that Zia and her brother end up going completely different ways and presumably never see each other again. BUT, that's where I have to give props to the historical story. History wasn't always pleasant and this book smacks of that kind of realism. The Indians in the missions were treated as slaves in the name of conversion to Christianity and the reality is that the converts didn't really understand what Christianity was about. This author is pretty good at telling a true, historical story, even if it is depressing. And while there isn't a whole lot of excitement happening here, there is some minor adventure happening that managed to hold my interest.

[Madeline Flowers]

It was very exciting and adventurous.

[Book Concierge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sequel to O’Dell’s Newbery Award winner, Island of the Blue Dolphins . Zia lives at the Mission Santa Barbara with her younger brother, Mando. They traveled to the mission after their mother and father had died. Zia has long heard stories about her Aunt Zarana who was left behind on the Island of the Blue Dolphins, her tribe’s ancestral home. Now she hopes to sail to the island and bring her Aunt back to live with them at the Mission.

This was not so compelling a story as IotBD, but I still thought it was a good middle-grade book. Zia is a strong heroine – intelligent, resourceful, morally upright, true to herself, loyal and brave. I also liked the social history lesson O’Dell imparts, showing how the Spaniards, “gringos,” Mexicans and Catholic missionaries fought over control of the people and lands of California, without regard to the native population and their culture.

I do have to comment on the cover of the edition I read. The young woman depicted is hardly recognizable as a Native American. Yet one more thing "stolen" from the natives - their very likeness.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this sequel to "Island of the Blue Dolphins," young Zia is determined to travel back to her people's island to rescue her mother's sister Karana, who stayed behind when the others left a generation ago. Zia and her brother Mando find a boat on the beach after a storm and set out for the island, only to run into trouble with the weather and whalers. They are forced to turn back, and it is some time before Zia convinces anyone to seek out her aunt. When Karana arrives, there is no one who speaks her language anymore, and despite her niece's love, Karana is unable to adapt to a constricted life in a mission. She ends up leaving to live in a cave on the beach with her dog. When she becomes ill, the fathers refuse medical treatment unless she agrees to return to the mission, which Zia knows she won't do.

[Chelsey M. Ortega · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was incredibly disappointing. I loved the the first one so much! I just had a hard time getting into the character's personality. I felt like the story the O'Dell created for her was not worth writing. And historically he shouldn't have even written this. Island of the Blue Dolphins is based off a true story, while Zia is completely fictional. In real life, the ship that Karana's tribe left the island on (while Karana was left on the island) sunk or got lost and no one every heard from them. Her entire family died way before she was rescued, so she wouldn't have had a niece to visit with when she was taken to the mainland. I imagine if I had read it as a kid - like I had the first one - I would have liked it. Who knows.

[Em · Rating 2 out of 5]

I could not get into this book. It felt like it was written as an afterthought. Things did not March up with the first book. The Island of The Blue Dolphin worked fine as a stand alone. This was not necessary.

The main character was not as strongly written as Karana. Zia felt like she was suppose to become like her aunt but it did not work that way.

I still love The Island of the Blue Dolphin and would re-read it in a heartbeat, but I would not read this one again.

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bought this at a school book fair because I'd loved the first book so much. Was very disappointed, as I did not find it as good as the first. I think I had expected it to be just like it. I should probably read it again for its own sake, because as an older person I find sequels that are identical to their predecessors to be quite boring and unoriginal.

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book doesn't present a clear sense of its historical setting. The aspects that made the first book distinctive are entirely absent from this one, which makes it just an average run-of-the-mill historical fiction title.

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Island of the Blue Dolphins is a must for young girls. It was one of my favorite's in elementary school.
I had no idea there was a sequel. How'd I miss that????
Zia is Karana's (the heroine from Island of Blue Dolphins)niece. Her tribe has been moved from the mountains to a mission by the sea in Santa Barbara, CA. Zia came hoping to find info on her long lost aunt as there's a captain who said he'd been to the isle & seen footprints.
Zia & her brother Mando use a washed up canoe on a voyage to the island.

Much suspense & action happen.

A light way to introduce some of the history of the spaniards & the indigenous people of what became "the new world" (ie. North america) to a YA audience.

To be honest, the story was a little sad but I'm glad I read it.
While not as much of a classic as the first book, it was a nice follow-up in the story.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a worthwhile read for those of us who loved IOBD as kids, though I experienced it as disjointed. I read it immediately after rereading IOBD. There are several subplots that, even after finishing the book, feel irrelevant. I am disappointed that a “sequel” to IOBD had so little character and family development. I thought for sure that Zia’s relationship with her brother may somehow be paralleled to the first book, especially after she shares the well-known story of her aunt’s decision to jump off of the ship and go to her brother. I wanted to know more about Zia’s mother and grandmother, and what they thought happened to her uncle; perhaps I missed it, but it seemed as though Zia knew only one person had survived. How would she know that?
I’m glad I read it, because my curiosity is satisfied; however, my desires were not.

[C.J. Milbrandt · Rating 3 out of 5]

A companion story to O'Dell's award-winning Island of the Blue Dolphin. Zia has heard stories about her aunt, who jumped ship and remained behind when the rest of the village left. According to a sea captain she knows, Karana is still there, with only a dog for a companion. Zia is the one who arranges for her rescue.

Spanish missions and Father Vicenti. Displacement and enslavement. Whaling ships and working the fields. Garrisons and threats. Wanting more and walking away. This story is another dose of cruel realities, including the oppression of natives by those who snatch up the rich California farmland or those who try to save and civilize them. Helplessness in the face of injustice. And a sad end for Karana.

[Joy Musselman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably made richer read after The Island of the Blue Dolphins. But, it is a fine standalone as well. In fact at first I didn't like it because I wanted it to be a sequel but when I switched to just being a complimentary to The Island of the Blue Dolphin I really enjoyed it. I liked the Indian Spanish mission history in it. Definitely recommend this book for young teens.

[Tennyson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zia is an adventure book about a girl named Zia who is searching for her aunt Karana. Zia and her brother Mando found a boat floating in the water at the beach. Zia and Mando took the boat and sailed out into the ocean to find Zia’s aunt Karana.

[Megan BG · Rating 2 out of 5]

It definitely lost the magic of the first book. Hard to follow and not really sure what the point was...

[Maura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh