The Islanders [Hardcover]

John Rowe Townsend (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Puffin Books (1983)
• ISBN-10: 0140314784
• ISBN-13: 978-0140314786
• ASIN: B001KTOLSC
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Splendid, unsentimental, spare and clear-eyed novel, February 5, 2009

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B. Walsh (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Islanders (Paperback)

"The Islanders" is a book aimed squarely at what the publishing world calls "young adults" and the rest of us call "precocious kids", but it's beautifully and starkly written, and tautly structured. I reread it with just as much enthusiasm when twice the age at which I read it first. Townsend's characters are fully realized without being overly described, and he is excellent at *showing* us how life on this isolated, Pitcairnesque island unfolds rather than lecturing us about it. It is a tightly- and carefully-written novel that should appeal to adults and be devoured in voracious great gulps by more thoughtful younger readers -- girls will find a tough and capable young heroine who has no story-book prettiness or guile, but influences events with her courage, tenacity, and resourcefulness; boys will find almost-reluctant heroes who do not necessarily excel in their community's traditional masculine roles but have other strengths in abundance.