Castaways on Long Ago [Hardcover]

Edward Ormondroyd (Author), Karen Rhine (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

Meet Richard, Linda and Dudley Waite — three everyday children spending time on a farm one hot summer’s week while their parents are away at a conference. The week promises to be perfectly ordinary — that is, until they discover Long Ago Island, overgrown, deserted, forbidden and beckoning.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Edward Ormondroyd has been a librarian, seaman, bookstore clerk, and paper factory operator, as well as a beloved children's author.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 188 pages
• Publisher: Green Mansion Press (March 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0971461287
• ISBN-13: 978-0971461284
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,243,077 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not precisely what the title implies, August 27, 2000

By 

Ivy (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Castaways on Long Ago (Hardcover)

I expected this to be another of Ormondroyd's excellent time travel books, like Time at the Top. Instead, it's a somewhat metaphysical tale, with rather less meat than most of his books - but still quite enjoyable to those who love old-style children's literature.

Three children - Linda, Richard, and Dudley - are making a stay in the countryside. When they spy an island, they are told that the place is forbidden, as is the lake that surrounds it; it's all the property of an old lady whose son died in a freak accident on the lake 50 years ago. The children name the island "Long Ago," and, led on by mysterious invitations, plot to get there, where they find both answers and danger.

About 75% of the book concerns the kids' plans to get to the island, most of them abortive, which probably accounts for the slowness of the novel. And the book doesn't make the transition into modern day as well as many of Ormondroyd's; the gender roles become particularly grating after a while, as Linda plays Goodie Two Shoes to Richard's single-minded obsession and Dudley's more rounded character.

Still, the book is good fun in an old-fashioned vein, and Ormondroyd fans will probably enjoy it quite a bit.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Solid character interactions, September 3, 2005

By 

Matt Hetling "Matt" (Bethel, ME USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Castaways on Long Ago (Hardcover)

Richard, Linda, and Dudley are spending a week on a farm with the kindly Vogels while their parents attend to some affairs in Chicago.

The Vogels warn them away from a small island in the middle of the lake, but the place exerts a powerful pull on the three young imaginations, and when it becomes clear to them that a boy is living on the island in secret, they set their minds to getting there.

This book definitely has its weak points, but it also has strengths that many better known childrens books could use. First and foremost, the book has three *gasp* realistic siblings, who fight with each other frequently and don't have a single "issue" that is wrapped up with a Hallmark moment at the end.

Another strength is the writing, particularly when the three children find themselves on the island. From the moment they see a frighteningly big snapping turtle from their raft, there is a sense of foreboding that is extremely well done for a kid's book. The reader sees menace in every detail of the island's features, ala The Blair Witch Project. I was really pleasantly surprised at how well Ormondroyd pulled this off.

While the broad outlines of the plot are very obvious from very early on, the details and unexpected obstacles that the children face in the latter third of the book are satisfying.

The book's biggest weakness lies in the tired and predictable plot. After a series of lengthy expository monologues by adults in the know, the mysterious goings-on become pretty obviously what they are. One nice touch is that the book ends without an overly descriptive wrap-up; a lesser author might have filled another ten pages with in-your-face resolution, but Ormondroyd knows when the narrative has lost its steam, and wisely curtails the story there.

Overall, I would recommend this book. It's not as good as "David and the Phoenix," but there are some elements that make it worthwhile.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Castaways On Long Ago, December 6, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Castaways on Long Ago (Paperback)

I read the book called Castaways On Long Ago by Edward Ormondroyd.I really liked this book.Well I really all mystery books.Here's a sumery of the book.Three kids named Linda,Richard ,and Dudley Waite are staying on a farm while there parents went away for their work.While at the farm the kids are playing around and then wanted to go for a swim and they were told no that they couldn't go swimming.They asked why and the women who owns the island said that if she lets them go for a swim then she'll have to let everyone in the town go for a swim.Then the kids asked why that's such a bad thing and she said because people will swim to that island and that is not aloud and that's that!!!!!!
The kids got very suspicious.So that same day they asked a man about it and he was no help.So they went to bed.The next day they see a boy waving them to the island.So they sneek to the island.When they got there knowone was there.So they searched and searched.Finally,they don't find a boy but a goast.