Off the Bookshelf: ISLAND BOY, by Robert R. Harry Sr.

 

I can still see the shelf in the spare bedroom of my grandmother's house where I found this book when I was in elementary school. It was a hardback, kind of faded and dusty. I think it was marked as a book club pick for young readers.

This story took me to an entirely new place and time and culture. People who lived on islands and went barefoot and had such (to me at the time) strange customs. I loved this book and often when I was at my grandmother's house for a long period of time, I'd pull it out and read it again.

I'm delighted that Wildside Press picked up this book and has made it available in paperback.

So what's the story? Vicious warriors come to Paulo's little village demanding tribute for their new king. When they are unable to pay, they are slaughtered. Paulo is the only survivor. He is found by a friendly trader and taken to another island, where the quest begins to find a place for an orphaned boy to find a new home. Paulo is taken in by Olu the chantmaker, and as he tries to find a place on this much larger island, with so many people, the reader sees what life was like in ancient Hawaii.

Does Paulo find a new home and family? You'll just have to read it and see.