Orphan Island

Laurel Snyder

May 2017 · Sold by HarperCollins

About this ebook

A National Book Award Longlist title!

"A wondrous book, wise and wild and deeply true." —Kelly Barnhill, Newbery Medal-winning author of The Girl Who Drank the Moon

"This is one of those books that haunts you long after you read it. Thought-provoking and magical." —Rick Riordan, author of the Percy Jackson series

In the tradition of modern-day classics like Sara Pennypacker's Pax and Lois Lowry's The Giver comes a deep, compelling, heartbreaking, and completely one-of-a-kind novel about nine children who live on a mysterious island.

On the island, everything is perfect. The sun rises in a sky filled with dancing shapes; the wind, water, and trees shelter and protect those who live there; when the nine children go to sleep in their cabins, it is with full stomachs and joy in their hearts.

And only one thing ever changes: on that day, each year, when a boat appears from the mist upon the ocean carrying one young child to join them—and taking the eldest one away, never to be seen again.

Today’s Changing is no different. The boat arrives, taking away Jinny’s best friend, Deen, replacing him with a new little girl named Ess, and leaving Jinny as the new Elder. Jinny knows her responsibility now—to teach Ess everything she needs to know about the island, to keep things as they’ve always been.

But will she be ready for the inevitable day when the boat will come back—and take her away forever from the only home she’s known?

"A unique and compelling story about nine children who live with no adults on a mysterious island. Anyone who has ever been scared of leaving their family will love this book" (from the Brightly.com review, which named Orphan Island a best book of 2017).

Ratings and reviews

It's an absolutely beautiful book, and I definitely recommend reading it on days when you'd just like to relax and forget about the outside world. That said, however, I do wish we could have gotten more answers. I can't say more without spoiling anything, but I finished the book slightly disappointed

Read this book years back and would kill for a sequel, it came back to me this morning and I found it hoping to find one by now but came out disappointed yet again

this book is so awesome so creative yet so different it was very sad but also very good i hope there's a sequel this was the best book ive ever read and ive read many books i loved the jorney i took when i read this book so yea this book was beyond great!

About the author

Laurel Snyder is the beloved author of many picture books and novels for children, including National Book Award nominee Orphan Island, the Geisel Award winner Charlie & Mouse, and the Sydney Taylor Award winner The Longest Night. A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, she teaches in Hamline University’s MFA in writing for children and young adults program. She lives in Atlanta with her family and can be found online at laurelsnyder.com.