The Cay by Theodore Taylor, ISBN 9780140366204, Puffin Classics
REVIEWED BY JOSEPH, 10, WA
Joseph’s mum borrowed this book from the library.
In The Cay, a young boy called Phillip lived in Willemstad. Because the war is on, Philip and his mother go on a boat to sail back to their old home in the USA but their ship gets bombed. The next thing Phillip remembers, he was stranded on a raft with a few biscuits, some chocolate, some water, a cat (called Stew Cat), and an old black man called Timothy. The raft lands on a cay where they have to fight for survival, hoping there’ll be a rescue.
I didn’t know this book existed until my mum pulled it out and started reading it to me. I don’t normally read books like this. The start of the book was very slow but once we’d read about three chapters the story started to run along and it was very interesting.
I liked how Timothy used his survival skills to help Phillip learn how to survive on the island. Timothy has a strong accent and it didn’t say he did but the author wrote his speaking parts the way he spoke. I thought that was a good way to imagine how he spoke.
After reading this book I’d learnt a few things like what langosta is (a type of lobster) and that you don’t need a knife to get coconuts off a tree but you do need to be able to climb.
Boys and girls aged 10 to 14 would enjoy this book, especially if they’re into books about survival. Out of 10 I would give it 8.5.
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Joseph is one of our regular book reviewers. His most recent review (if you don’t count this one) was of the Don’t Look Now! series. If YOU would like to send us a book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!
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