Shipwreck Island by S.A. Bodeen
Release Date: July 29, 2014
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Source: Publisher
Format: ARC
Pages: 192
Amazon | Goodreads
Sarah Robinson is deeply troubled in the wake of her dad's second marriage. She now has to deal with a new stepmom and two stepbrothers, Marco, who is her age, and Nacho, who's younger. Even though they've all moved from Texas to California to start life as a new, blended family, none of the kids seem remotely happy about it.
Sarah's dad and stepmom then decide to take the whole family on a special vacation in order to break the ice and have everyone get to know one another. They'll fly to Tahiti, charter a boat, and go sailing for a few days. It'll be an adventure, right?
Wrong. Dead wrong.
After many, many years of avoiding Middle Grade like the plague, I have come to LOVE it! Looking back I wish I hadn't turned down all those review requests for it. So now that I'm a huge fan I'm always on the lookout for a new Middle Grade read. I pulled Shipwreck Island off my shelf and enthusiastically dug in. I voraciously read through S.A. Bodeen's the Raft in previous years and was so looking forward to this one.
While it wasn't quite the home run for me that her YA novel, The Raft, had been, I enjoyed this quick MG read. The main character Sarah is having a horrible time adjusting to her father remarrying and having 2 new brothers in her life. To try to help the family adjust, their parents decide to trade in their first class tickets into economy tickets for the whole family. What once had been a honeymoon cruise turns into a reluctant family vacation for FIVE!
Right off the bat things start to go awry, and the family is really tested as they struggle to deal with everything. As I mentioned before, this wasn't quite the big hit that the Raft had been for me, but I still enjoyed this. Mixed families are extremely common and I thought it was both realistic and relatable for teens reading it. As I popped onto Goodreads to gather info for my review, I was really happy to see that this is a series with book 2 and 3 already out. I am looking forward to picking those up and continuing the story of Shipwreck Island.
Have you read this book, or the Raft? What did you think? I'd love to know your thoughts, so let me know in the comments!
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