The Island by Brian Conte

The Island by Brian Conte
Publisher: Page Publishing
Genre: Middle Grade (8 – 12 y.o.), Young Adult (14 – 18 y.o.), Paranormal, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Contemporary
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

The Island is a coming-of-age story about the real-life adventure that the author’s son, Zeb, had. The story is about Zeb washing ashore as a castaway on a desert island and all the ways he must learn to survive and get off it.

Survival is the goal.

Some of the best scenes were the ones that described how Zeb figured out how to meet his basic needs on the island. He needed the basics like food, water, and shelter, of course, but he also had emotional needs to fulfill in order to remain hopeful that he was going to figure out a way to go home again. I cheered him on every time he made a new discovery that took care of one or more of these needs.

I was never entirely sure who this was written for, so clarity would have been helpful there. Some portions sounded like they were for adults who enjoy magical realism or blending fiction with fact while other ones felt more appealing to middle grade readers who like lighthearted castaway stories or teens who prefer a grittier and more realistic description of what it takes to survive by oneself on an island. Of course there can be more than one target audience, but when something is written for such a large range of ages and reading styles it can make it tricky for me as a reviewer to know who to recommend such a tale to. Some of the whimsical sections would probably fly over the heads of the average preteen while other scenes might feel too playful for anyone who knows how hard it is to catch your own food or keep a fire going on a damp, tropical island. Then again, there is something to be said for rereading an old favorite years later only to discover a deeper layer of meaning to it. This is a minor criticism of something I thought was otherwise engaging and well done.

It’s hard to talk about the magical realism and paranormal elements of the storyline without giving away spoilers, but it was such an important part of the plot that I must try. There’s something so emotionally satisfying about being allowed to make up one’s own mind about what was going on in the scenes that could be interpreted in multiple ways, including ones that are only possible in fiction. I have my own theories about how to interpret them, but there are equally valid explanations other readers might prefer about what the causes of these events were and if Zeb’s descriptions of them were what actually happened.

The Island kept me guessing until the final sentences.