Customer Reviews

The Music of Dolphins

5 star:		(77)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

In the poignant story The Music of Dolphins a young girl named Mila survives a plane crash and lives with dolphins for about nine years. Then the coast guard finds her and takes her to a facility for study. Although she enjoys experiencing life as a human, she cannot deny her longing to return to the sea and her dolphin family. Eventually, she must return.

In this book, Hesse uses the first person point of view as a tool to show Mila's degree of human socialization. At the beginning of the book, the sentences and chapters are short; there are no paragraphs. These characteristics illustrate Mila's limited ability to vocalize because she has not acquired the language skills necessary to organize her dolphin-like thoughts. As she learns English, Mila uses elementary, disjointed speech. In addition to using simplistic words to convey this message, Hesse uses font size to further illustrate her point. The large font size in the first part of the book symbolizes Mila's degree of socialization. Also in the first few chapters, Mila uses observations with few expressions of feelings. For example, she says, "I like good" (8); "I like Sandy happy" (9); "I like to see the picture of dolphin" (11). These examples also illustrate her rudimentary language skills.

As the book continues, the sentences get longer, and paragraphs begin to form. By Chapter 23, Mila speaks in paragraphs. This shows how much Mila has learned. Also it denotes that she has reached a level that is more socially acceptable. Hesse now decreases the font size to what one would consider average. She also employs more complex expressions of feelings and ideas to indicate Mila's increased knowledge and language. For example, she says, "I love to use my hands. To play games, to make music . . . I like every little thing I am learning with my fingers and my toes" (83).

The turning point of the story is Chapter 29. Until this point, Mila has been content to live in a house with Doctor Beck and the others and learn human things like, playing games, sleeping in a bed, and wearing clothes. In this chapter, Mila decides she no longer wants to be human. She would rather return to the sea and the dolphins. At first, she just tries to be good and follow the rules, hoping that one day they'll let her leave. In Chapter 36, Mila has a talk with Justin in which he tells her that no matter how good she is Dr. Beck will not release her. She realizes then that she doesn't have to let Dr. Beck control her and that she can stand up for herself. After this point, Mila begins her journey back to her former life. Hesse reverses the changes made in font size, sentence length, paragraph length, and word complexity. This reversal symbolizes Mila's reversal to dolphin life.

Hesse uses font size and other structural methods effectively. She has transformed these overlooked aspects of writing into tools that convey her intended message with clarity and skill. I have never read a book with this type of strategy, and I found it to be quite rewarding. It speaks in a way that plain words cannot.

I am writing this as a reply to the review entitled "OMG THIS BOOK WAS HORRIBLE."

This novel is not about it being a "true" story, which it isn't, but about the development of language and social communication and interaction.

An example case relative to Mila's predicament would be the case of Isabelle, who was discovered when she was 6 years old in a dark room, where her family kept her secluded from the world. She hadn't properly developed speech, nor did she have social experience.

The point is that as the book progresses, the author writes from Mila's perspective as she develops her language skills.

"The Music of Dolphins" has been a fairly popular book with 5th and 6th grade girls in our elementary school library, so I decided to listen to the audio-book on cassette read by the actress Michele McHall.

Just as Karen Hesse starts the book with large print and simple language, McHall reads the first part of the book in a slow, halting and almost annoying high-pitched voice. My teenaged son--who normallly loves to listen to books on tape--was so annoyed by this, he quit listening within the first few chapters.

However, just as the font in the book gets smaller and the language gets smoother, McHall's version of Mila's voice becomes easier to listen to as Mila ajdusts to being removed from her dolphin family and living with scientists who teach her English and music, while they study her in hopes of learning dolphin language.

Both the book and the audio-book have an atmosphere that grows on you, and it's easy to get caught up in Mila's confusion, hopes, concern for another feral child, and stirrings of love. In the end, you're left to ponder the question of what it means to be a human. I think that's why this book is so deceptively simple, when it's really dealing with some pretty profound questions.

Although I'm troubled with Karen Hesse's conclusion that a girl raised by dolphins is more "human" than the humans who care for her and study her, it does force you to stop and think about what the good qualities in human beings should be like.

I think my son would agree that this is a "girl's book," but it's certainly one that deserves to be read, discussed and pondered.

Music of the Dolphins, by Karen Hesse is a heroic book. The struggle Mila must go through to live with her dolphin family is tear-jerking. A young child is on a plane with her mother, and it crashes, killing the mother and leaving the child stranded on a small island. She is saved by a pod of dolphins and then lives there for 7 long years. She is found by the coastgard and sent to Boston, Mass. to study and rehabilitate. All Mila wants to do is go home to her aquatic family. Will mila ever make it back to the family that saved her from the craws of death? You must read the book to find out. I absolutely loved Music of the Dolphins. I think I look at animals differently now. I think anyone that likes animals, or wants a good book to read this is the one you should chose. You might even appreciate your life more, I sure have.

A young girl is discovered swimming in the waters between Florida and Cuba, and when researchers bring her in, they learn that she has been living with dolphins, basically raised by them and taught to communicate and survive in their world. In the laboratory, where they attempt to teach her human speech and behavior, this girl they've named Mila makes slow progress, and eventually she must choose between living in their world and living in the one she has known for most of her life. This unusual, fascinating story is made even more so by the fact that it is told by Mila, and like Flowers for Algernon, we see her speech and behavior slowly improve as the story is told, and then decline as she realizes that she would rather live among the dolphins than with humans. An intriguing book that will appeal to anyone interested in psychology, especially the psychology of language acquisition and the stories of historical figures such as the Wild Boy of Averon and Genie.

Have you ever wondered what it's like to be a dolphin? In the book "Music of Dolphins" Mila, a 13 year old girl is trapped in the human world after spending the last thirteen years of her life living with dolphins. In the human world, scientists study her and try to force her to teach them dolphin language.
Mila loves music and the scientists teach her to play the recorder, but there is a different kind of music she yearns for. She misses the dolphins and their music, but will she be able to return?
Karen Hesse has written an enchanting book on what it means to be human. I really loved this book because it taught me what family is really all about!

This was one of the most unusual books I've ever read. Imagine being raised by dolphins. This is what happened to Mila,until she was forced from her home to an institution for wild children. There she befriends the doctors, a doctor's son, and a feral child named Shay. Mila becomes more and more human, while Shay regresses. The story reminded me a little bit of "Flowers for Algernon", although it's not nearly as sad. The ending was kind of weird. Why did she give up all her blessings? But I liked how the font shrunk as Mila's knowledge grew, then got big again when she began longing for the sea. She "spoke" poetically of the ocean and her dolphin family. Overall, this was a quick, entertaining read. Of course I reccomend it. What I need now is a sequel. What about Mila's human father?

This book is about a girl named Mila. Mila survives a plane crash and is rescued by some dolphins when she is 3 years old. She grows up into her early teens with the dolphins. She learns their music, their ways, and their sense. One day a plane comes and takes her away. She is worked with by Dr. Elizabeth Beck and a kind lady named Sandy. Mila makes rapid progress, but she longs for her real home, with the dolphins. She always tries to make the doctors happy. One day she does not eat and gets very sick. Sandy and Dr. Beck's son, Justin tell Dr. Beck to let her go. Will Mila get back to her home with the dolphins? Read this book to find out! It is so wonderful in many ways. You can learn with Mila and feel what she feels and know what she knows. You will soon develop a soft spot in your heart for her and will never forget this book! I loved it. It has encouraged me to write more and has helped my imagination grow! I encourage many people to read this amazing book! It is like you are inside her. As you read this book you learn more about dolphins. One thing that is cool about the typing in this book is that it begins very big and gets small and then big again! Please read about Mila and her life out of the sea!

You always read books about dolphins. Books that have no effect on you. Books you think back on and say, "Oh yeah, that was an okay story." Lots of authors will spin a simple tale around the subject of dolphins because it's a popular topic that many people like. When I bought The Music of Dolphins at a book fair, I thought I was getting just that: a simple story about a girl raised by dolphins. Nothing new, nothing exciting, nothing captivating. Boy was I ever wrong.

The Music of Dolphins features a teenage girl found off Cuba, in the midst of her only real family, a group of dolphins. Mila, as she is dubbed, speaks no language but the clicks and cries of her cousins, as she calls the animals. This incredible story follows her growth as a human, in her own simple writing, as she learns what she truly is, and what she truly wants to be. As she progresses she discovers more and more about what this life she's been forced into means, and the pain and sadness that come with it. You will truly feel Mila's emotions, and will cry when you realize the decision she makes at the end. Maybe it's the right one, and maybe it's not, but this profound story will make you think about who you are, through the eyes of a girl who is different in ways you can only imagine.

The Music of Dolphins is emotionally and intellectually appealing to me. Emotionally, I felt for the young child as she struggled to understand her new environment as well as to recapture her old environment. Music played a large role in conveying the emotions of the young girl (Mila). But for me, music also played a huge role in my own emotions. As Mila poured herself into her music, I "heard" and "felt" the music in my heart. Karen Hesse said in Amazon.com's interview that she listened to a dolphin music CD while writing this book. And I believe her. Also emotionally, I grieved for Mila's determined decision to return. I felt that her return was susposed to be "forever" and so, I grieved for her. As she matures (puberty especially), the girl will find that her new environment is restrictive both emotionally and physically. (Perhaps a future sequel!) Intellectually, The Music of Dolphins appealed to me as well. The plot structure is set up both in story and in print. In the story, the plot is told progressive chronologically in Mila's own personal journal. Although she actually begins writing the journal after she is rescued (obviously), she backtracks to tell of her life immediately before the rescue. During the progression of her journal, she also delves information about her sea life. This use of flashback is effective in that we get to know her as she begins to "articulately know" herself. In print, we come to know Mila through her growth as a writer. Hesse brilliantly uses type of font and size to illustrate her progession and then regression. This technique reminds me of a beloved novel Flowers for Algernon. The content is much the same too. Needless to say, I have loved them both. I am a middle school Language Arts teacher. Each year, the book Island of the Blue Dolphins (another girl and dolphin story) is on the curriculum. Most 5th - 7th graders read this story in their English classes. Since I teach 8th grade, this novel is a good story to continue the study of realistic survival stories. (Even as a read-aloud, but only if you show the kids the change in the print.) Fall in love with the style and content of this book. At least, I can promise you will FEEL. (And sometimes we need little reminders that we are "feeling" creatures- whether we are human or animal or a combination of both!) :0)