Scott O'Dell (1898-1989) · AuthorAuthor
Scott O'Dell
1898-1989 · American author of historical novels for young readers
About Scott O'Dell
Scott O'Dell (1898-1989) was an American writer born in Los Angeles, who worked as a journalist and wrote novels for adults before turning to young readers with Island of the Blue Dolphins. He went on to write many historical novels set in California, the Southwest and Spanish America, among them The King's Fifth, Sing Down the Moon and Zia, the sequel to this book. He received the international Hans Christian Andersen Award for his body of work in 1972 and founded the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction.
On this site
Island of the Blue DolphinsScott O'Dell
1960 · Postwar Contemporary · Novel
Island of the Blue Dolphins is narrated by Karana, a girl of about twelve who lives in the village of Ghalas-at on a small island off the California coast in the early nineteenth century; her people call it the Island of the Blue Dolphins. A red-sailed ship brings Captain Orlov, a Russian, and a crew of Aleut hunters, who ask Karana's father, Chief Chowig, to let them take sea otter in exchange for goods.