Nim's Island

May 26, 2008
Coinciding with the release of the movie, this finely produced audiobook captures the spirit of Orr's (Peeling the Onion
) fantastic tale. Nim has lived on a remote island with her scientist father, Jack, ever since when she was a baby and her mother died. And when Jack sails off on a three-day trip, Nim has no trouble staying behind with her three friends: a sea lion, a marine iguana and a green sea turtle. The three days turn into two weeks when a storm disables Jack's boat, and father and daughter communicate through notes delivered by a frigate bird. Reading lightly differentiates characters' voices, but her real strength lies in her expressive delivery. Children will savor the slivers of information about the tropical habitat, the adventure and survival themes, and the imaginative twists that Orr works into the story. Ages 9–12. (Reviews, Feb. 19, 2001).

Starred review from February 19, 2001
Orr (Peeling the Onion) blithely throws credibility to the wind and inventively tweaks coincidence to create a fantasy tale as welcome as a breath of fresh tropical air. Ever since her mother died when Nim was a baby, the girl and Jack, her scientist father, have lived on a remote island. When Jack sails off on a three-day trip to collect plankton, Nim stays behind with her three best friends: a sea lion, a marine iguana and a green sea turtle. But a storm disables Jack's boat, and Nim remains alone for a full two weeks, in contact with her father only through notes delivered by a frigate bird. As the author describes the girl's daily routine of foraging for food, doing chores and playing with her pals, she neatly slips into her narrative slivers of information about the tropical habitat (e.g., Chica the sea turtle returns each year to lay her eggs on Nim's island, where Chica was hatched). A story within a story emerges as Nim strikes up an e-mail correspondence with an author who begins writing an adventure novel—set on an island that looks exactly like Nim's. With ample doses of suspense and comedy, and a pleasingly sappy happily-ever-after ending, the tale portrays the improbable so cleverly that readers will want
to believe everything about the likable Nim and her idyllic isle. Pen-and-ink drawings that resemble Quentin Blake's bring these enchanting characters and setting to life. Ages 9-12.