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Dolphin Sky

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20th Anniversary Edition / Revised

Buddy Martin is a young girl, trapped by the limitations of her learning disability, who risks her father’s condemnation and breaks the law to save the lives of the captive dolphins she has befriended.

270 pages, Paperback

First published August 9, 1996

3 people are currently reading
209 people want to read

About the author

Ginny Rorby

16 books137 followers
Ginny Rorby was raised in Winter Park, Florida, and lived in Miami during her career as a Pan American flight attendant. Midway through that career, she enrolled in the University of Miami to pursue an undergraduate degree in biology, graduated and changed direction again. She went on to receive an MFA in Creative Writing from Florida International University. Her goal, after wrapping up her flying career and her graduate studies, was to move someplace where she would never be hot again. She now lives on the chilly coast of northern California. Ginny is the author 6 novels for Middle Grade and Young Adults readers: Freeing Finch, How to Speak Dolphin, Lost in the River of Grass, winner of the 2012 / 2013 Sunshine State Young Readers Award; Hurt Go Happy, winner of the 2008 American Library Association’s Schneider Family Book Award. The Outside of a Horse and Dolphin Sky. Ginny is a past director of the Mendocino Coast Writers’ Conference.
Her most recent novel, Like Dust, I Rise, is a Coming of Age novel set in Texas during the Dust Bowl.

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5 stars
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16 (25%)
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
28 reviews2 followers
November 13, 2017
First Choice Book. Second Quarter
Dolphin Sky is a book about a girl named Buddy who is dyslexic. She has a hard time with school and reading especially. Then on her birthday her dad whom she calls Kirk takes her to see a dolphin show where they soon figure out that Mr.Blossom (Kirk's friend) is mistreating his dolphins. Buddy eventually (after becoming very close to one of the dolphins, Annie) goes on a mission to save the dolphins. I would recommend this book because it kept me sucked in the entire time. It always made me want to read more and never stop. My grandma recommended this book to me and eventually I picked it up and began to read it and from then on I never wanted to put it down.
Author 13 books27 followers
September 28, 2012
ATTENZIONE: questa recensione contiene degli spoilers.

Questo è un libro che, se apparentemente sembrerebbe essere molto semplicistico, ho trovato invece interessante e molto più intelligente di numerosi libri che ho letto. Non trovo sia una lettura che dovrebbero fare soltanto i più giovani, ma anche gli adulti. Ginny Rorby riesce a far entrare il lettore subito nella vita della piccola Buddy, descrivendo molto bene ( delle volte anche troppo a lungo) la vita nelle Everglades di coloro che vivono catturando i granchi. Buddy è una comune ragazzina dodicenne, molto timida e decisamente insicura. Come poi scopriremo durante lo svolgimento del libro, Buddy soffre di dislessia, quindi ha gravi problemi di lettura e di conseguenza i suoi compagni di scuola la offendono chiamandola stupida. La scrittrice ha descritto molto bene la mentalità stretta di quelle persone egoiste che, ad esempio al posto di aiutare Buddy, la deridono solo perchè lei è diversa. Dove volano i delfini è un libro ricco di messaggi positivi, infatti durante la storia Buddy si legherà molto a dei delfini costretti a vivere in cattività e, grazie al suo amore per i delfini, cercando di fare la cosa giusta, Buddy riuscirà a liberare i delfini dal loro triste destino che gli avrebbe costretti a fare spettacoli per gli umani. Ho trovato interressante il rapporto tra Buddy e l'ammiraglio ( suo nonno, che lentamente durante lo svolgimento del libro si spegnerà, anche intristito dalla sua salute, costretto a trascorrere una vita lontano dal mare, a causa della sedia a rotelle sulla quale è obbligato a restare seduto) ed il lettore alla fine del libro tirerà un sospiro di sollievo nel sapere che finalmente Kirk, il padre di Buddy, capirà che sua figlia non è una stupida ma solo una bambina dislessica. Un personaggio interessante è anche la biologa Jane Conroy, è una donna determinata che aiuta Buddy e Kirk a capire che non è giusto costringere i delfini a fare spettacoli privandoli della loro libertà. Sembrebbero temi comuni, ma secondo me non tutti ancora riescono a capire molte cose, come ad esempio il fatto di non giudicare male qualcuno solo perchè è diverso. Nel libro ci sono molti momenti intenerenti, come l'amicizia di Buddy con il granchio al quale salverà per un periodo la sua vita ed inoltre ci sono dei momenti in cui Buddy vivrà delle situazioni coraggiose. Trovo che la protagonista, durante il libro, abbia una crescita personale molto importante. Nonostante avrei voluto sapere in che modo Kirk affronterà la morte del padre e nonostante vorrei sapere se Kirk e Jane si sposeranno, trovo che, anche se la scrittrice ha lasciato aperte molte domande, ognuno può trovare le risposte che vuole.
Tutto sommato Dove volano i delfini è un libro che consiglierei, dolce, scorrevole, forse un pò troppo descrittivo, ma comunque sia racconta una storia carina, arricchita da personaggi diversi ( più o meno intelligenti, e Buddy si trova nella prima categoria), che lasciano scorrere il libro piacevolmente.
Profile Image for Kellee Moye.
2,923 reviews340 followers
August 12, 2016
Full review at: http://www.unleashingreaders.com/?p=2251

I know you have heard this before from me, but Ginny Rorby just has a way of sucking me in and pulling on my heart strings. Dolphin Sky is Ginny's first book which she just rereleased as an ebook, so I grabbed it as soon as she let me know. Once again, I cried, I cheered, I laughed. I loved every second of the book.
If you have never read a Ginny Rorby book, let me explain what she is good at: Ginny knows how to intertwine human issues and animal issues into a seemlessly touching story. Buddy, our young protagonist, is bullied at school and has a very tough time keeping up. A specific bully is relentless making her feel stupid specifically when she has to read outloud and cannot. The only time Buddy feels like she can be herself is around her grandfather, The Admiral, who, after an accident, is in a wheelchair. Even her father is very distant and her mother is dead. Buddy also finds relief when she is around nature and she specifically loves dolphins, so when she befriends Annie, a captive dolphin at a small roadside attraction, she knows she has found a friend for life.
One of the things that Ginny does so well is voice- unique per book, but also consistent between. Though this book is in 3rd person, the narrator has a specific voice throughout and they are different between every book (though I can always tell it is Ginny writing). She has a style to her descriptions and prose that is perfect for the books she writes. In this book, specifically the setting comes alive because of Ginny's writing.
The other thing I think Ginny does well in all of her books is characterization of not only the human characters, but the animals as well. Annie the dolphin is as much a character as anyone else in this book. So is Osceola, the crab, who ended up being one of my favorite characters.
Lastly, again, Ginny pays homage to good teachers who can make a difference. Miss Conroy, the doctorate student who meets and mentors Buddy, as well as Miss Daniels, Buddy's teacher, are great advocates for Buddy and really show how a good teacher or mentor can make a difference.
Profile Image for Brook Maturo.
171 reviews4 followers
April 20, 2016
It's so hard to find kids books for older readers that aren't either shallow and insipid or of the ridiculous YA romance genres. This is one of several of this author's books that we've read and I just love it. Deep characters, real tragedy and genuine heroism. I love this story. The vividness was accentuated by the fact that we were just in the Everglades last month.
Profile Image for Sofia.
12 reviews1 follower
April 20, 2014
it's nice. But it is not easy always acts
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