![]() ![]() We do know that Jinny, the eldest child this year, is having a hard time letting go of childhood.Īs an aside, Jinny is an admirably unlikable character. We don't know how the children get there, or why, or how the island takes care of them. ![]() ![]() It invites inevitable comparisons to Hokey Pokey, by Jerry Spinelli, of course, and for its first half Orphan Island seems to occupy that same allegorical space. Once a year a boat comes to bring a new toddler (a Care) and takes away the oldest child (the Elder), who is approaching adolescence. The premise is simple: nine children (each one year apart in age) live on an idyllic island. I feel like I should be getting more confident in my critical assessments as I get older, but instead I increasingly find myself going, "Huh! That sure was a book!" or, "Okay, I guess that's the kind of thing we're publishing these days?" ![]() It seems to happen more and more often to me. Sometimes you finish a book and you're not sure whether you've just read the best book of the year or witnessed a train wreck. "Nine on an island, orphans all / any more the sky might fall." ![]()
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