Sweet Friday Island [Mass Market Paperback]

Theodore Taylor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 13, 1994

Uninhabited and remote, Sweet Friday Island rises out of the Sea of Cortez, the flattened top of an ancient mountain. Its rugged terrain makes it the perfect place for fifteen-year-old Peg Toland and her adventurous dad to take their favorite kind of vacation. But its idyllic isolation and wild landscape ultimately turn Sweet Friday Island into a terrifying and deadly trap. Inexorably forced into fighting for their lives Peg and her father are suddenly struggling as well with a question many of us pose but need never answer: Are we really capable of killing another human to protect someone we love?

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-9-In this revision of a 1984 title, teenage Peg and her father go on a camping vacation to a supposedly uninhabited island in the Sea of Cortez. Ignoring the warnings of the mainland locals (and Peg's own uneasiness), they arrive on the island only to become quickly victimized by an unseen assailant they label Se?or Psycho. Their only means of transportation is destroyed, the lenses in the girl's sunglasses are crushed, and the diabetic father's insulin kit is stolen. Subtle changes in this version make the terror even stronger, with more of a psychological twist and posttraumatic analysis. It is up to Peg to save her father, and to decide whether, in order for him to survive, she can kill another person. Only when they are rescued do they meet the perpetrator face to face, and years later Peg returns to get the full story. While it's happening, the tension and suspense will keep readers turning pages, but it seems unnecessary for Taylor to state specifically Peg's moral dilemma in this edition. It comes through quite clearly in the course of the story.
Susan Knorr, Milwaukee Public Library, WI
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Grade 6-9-In this revision of a 1984 title, teenage Peg and her father go on a camping vacation to a supposedly uninhabited island in the Sea of Cortez. Ignoring the warnings of the mainland locals (and Peg's own uneasiness), they arrive on the island only to become quickly victimized by an unseen assailant they label Se?or Psycho. Their only means of transportation is destroyed, the lenses in the girl's sunglasses are crushed, and the diabetic father's insulin kit is stolen. Subtle changes in this version make the terror even stronger, with more of a psychological twist and posttraumatic analysis. It is up to Peg to save her father, and to decide whether, in order for him to survive, she can kill another person. Only when they are rescued do they meet the perpetrator face to face, and years later Peg returns to get the full story. While it's happening, the tension and suspense will keep readers turning pages, but it seems unnecessary for Taylor to state specifically Peg's moral dilemma in this edition. It comes through quite clearly in the course of the story. Susan Knorr, Milwaukee Public Library, WI (School Library Journal )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Brace & Company; First Edition edition (May 13, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152000127
• ISBN-13: 978-0152000127
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,364,361 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #23 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Teens > Literature & Fiction > Suspense

More About the Author

Theodore Taylor has written several award-winning books. The Cay won the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award and was also made into a movie.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dane, November 27, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Sweet Friday Island (Mass Market Paperback)

The Island

Peg Toland and her father Sam plan a camping trip to Mexico that turns out to be a fight for their lives. Sweet Friday Island is the planned destination, but two strangers, Raul Clemente and a very old woman, inform them that the island is not a good place to go. Peg and Sam decide to head to their planned vacation anyway and ignore the warning.
Camp is set up on Sweet Friday so Peg and Sam go for a swim. After a few hours they return to camp to fid missing items, their boat damaged, and Peg's clothing with knife holes. Their camping items that were taken could be considered weapons i.e. axe, fishing spear, knife. Unexplainable was Peg's missing makeup bag. Sam attempts to repair the boat with no success. They wished now, that they had listened to the stranger's warnings.
As the day continues, Peg and Sam realize there is someone out to get them. Peg nicknames their tormentor "Senior Psycho". Senior Psycho throws huge spiders down on them. He howls in the night, trying to get them to emerge from their camp area so he can squash them with boulders. In the day while searching for the psycho, Sam sprains his ankle and could barely walk. To top this all off, Senior Psycho takes Sam's shaving kit tatter holds all of his insulin and syringes needed for his diabetes. Without his insulin shot, Sam would soon be in a diabetic coma and death would follow shortly after.
Peg knows she must take action. With her father slipping into a comma, she plans to get the insulin back to save his life. Before he became useless, Sam made gas bombs to use on Senior Psycho. He took the two glass jars they had, filled them with motor oil, and inserted a fuse made of braided cloth. Peg prepared to use them. She followed the psycho into a small hidden cave, which she found was his home, and threw gas bomb in after him. When the smoke cleared she entered the cave cautiously and found Senior Psycho on the ground. He appeared to be dead so she grabbed the insulin and ran back to her father. Desperate to save him, Peg gave her father the shot. Not knowing how much to put in the syringe, she filled it three quarters of the way and hoped for the best. Sam slowly came to and Peg burned their damaged boat, hoping someone would come save them.
Raul Clemente and the old woman came to the island and were furious to see Peg and her father. They told the couple that they should have listened to the warning and they knew bad things were going to happen. Raul ran to the cave and dragged Senior Psycho out and onto the boat. He was not dead after all! Raul assisted Peg and Sam, with their belongings, onto the boat as well. They returned to the mainland.
Five or six years later, Peg continues to have nightmares about the trip. She sees a psychiatrist who tells her over and over to return to Mexico. Eventually she does and speaks to Raul. They talk and he informed her that senior Psycho was his father and the old woman was his mother. He said that they were both dead now. Senior Psycho was on Sweet Friday hiding from the police. He killed a man a long time ago and was insane. After talking a while Raul apologized for the events that occurred on Sweet Friday. As she left Mexico she felt better, knowing the truth about the crazy trip her and her father had taken.
As I began this book I thought it was boring and I didn't like it at all. It started slow but then the action took place. When they had to take revenge on Senior Psycho was the part that made the book interesting. You learned their struggle for survival. I enjoyed every part of the book except for the first quarter of it. So if you haven't read Sweet Friday Island, I think you should.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome!! Amazing!! Couldn't put it down!!, March 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Sweet Friday Island (Mass Market Paperback)

I loved this book! I know want to get my own copy. This book totally captivated me in every way. It has an amazing story plot and climax. If Iwas the author I would have changed the ending though. It ended to abrubtly, no downhill climax. But still it was great. I would recomend this book to anyone who enjoys books on survival or exploring, or just likes to read a wonderfully captivating book! :-Þ

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It made chills go through my body., August 6, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Sweet Friday Island (Mass Market Paperback)

This book was fantastic. It scared my while I was reading and seemed so realistic. The end is excellent, too, and makes sense, while other books can throw you off at the ending or seem really stupid.