From 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.
Shipwreck Island is the first installment in a series from S.A. Bodeen."
Some big things have been happening in my life recently. A few weeks ago I broke up with my boyfriend of three and a half years. He will be moving out soon and I will eventually be moving into my own place. A year ago I said we should have a yard sale to get rid of things we didn't want. The idea was quickly shot down. Now that I'm doing my own thing I have decided to have a yard sale when it gets a little warmer. That being said I have been going through things that I no longer need or want. I have also been working through the books that I have had stored in boxes or on shelves. I'm trying to get as many read as possible to either put them in my classroom library or put them in the yard sale. This one was absolutely amazing and quickly went into the pile to go to my classroom library.
Shipwreck Island is told by Sarah and Marco. Each chapter rotates to a different point of view of the two kids who have been thrown together into a family dynamic after their parents got married. Sarah's mom died some years back and it has been Sarah and her dad for a while. Marco, his brother Nacho, and their mom have been happily living their life in Texas. But when Sarah's dad marries Marco's mom they are soon step siblings. The family decides to take a luxury honeymoon family vacation. But shortly after they leave they run into a bad storm that leaves the captain dead and their family shipwrecked on an island. They must work together to figure out how to survive the twisted island they are on.
This book was a pretty quick read for me. It isn't very long, but it packed a solid punch. The alternating views were exciting because we were able to see Sarah and Marco's thoughts and opinions concerning the marriage, honeymoon vacation, and being stranded on an island. I love the concept of this newly blended family going on a quality vacation together to get to know each other. They hadn't spent much time together and the kids knew pretty much nothing about each other. They were then quickly thrown into this awful situation of being shipwrecked on a deserted island. This really forced Sarah and Marco to be their true selves and not put on a front because they were unhappy about the marriage and new family. Emergencies and unplanned events often bring out people's true colors.
I sort of hated that the time frame in this book was just a few days. The entire book felt short and similar to read a few chapters of a book. The book was over before it even really started. Which of course had pros and cons. It made me frustrated because I wanted more of the story, but excited to read the next book in the series. I also questioned what kind of parents would get married in such a short amount of time without ever having introduced the kids to each other. The first time they met was when Marco, Nacho, and their mom was moving in with Sarah and her dad. I feel like the parents only cared about themselves in the entire situation.
I really enjoyed this book and was extremely excited to read the next one in the series. I was unfortunately unable to get it at Books A Million and it wasn't available on Scholastic. Of course I could have purchased it on Amazon, but there was no way that I could wait that long. I ended up checking the second book out of the library at school. I give this 5 stars. If you like adventure and survival books this is definitely a series for you.
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