Orphan Island

Our plans for March 2020 included attending book club and discussing "Orphan Island" by Laurel Snyder, and the week before we had a chance to meet, just about everything shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic! While that was disappointing, most in our book club were busy trying to adjust to all the lock down related concerns. Eventually, as it seemed we were not suddenly going to get to be back to normal, we decided to shift our book club to a virtual setting. 

As practice, we decided to discuss this book. That meant we had basically three months to read the book, and about a week to figure out Zoom. While many have been able to connect in this way, it does pose its challenges. Sometimes the internet isn't great, other times it's problems with software or hardware. But in May we were finally able to discuss this book! 

Those who attended had mostly read the book and enjoyed it overall. The story follows Jinny, a girl on an island with only 9 children. Each year a young child arrives in a boat, and the oldest leaves in the boat. Jinny is second oldest when the book begins and she begins to mentor Ess, a young girl who has just arrived. Her best friend Deen leaves at the outset and the impact of his departure lingers throughout the story. 

She spends the next 'year' (we are not really told how long it is, and seasons don't seem to be a thing), raising Ess the best she can and dealing with the frustrations of being in charge. She struggles to allow others to help her and questions her world. When it is her turn to leave, Jinny refuses to go. Instead she just brings in the new child and tries to move forward. 

This leads to many things going wrong on the island, and eventually she does leave with the youngest child who was bitten by a snake (which were previously not venomous). The writing is quite beautiful, and the world the author builds is really quite beautiful, somewhat confusing and unclear but still quite interesting. The ending is rather abrupt, and does not clarify any answers to the many questions a reader may have. Why are these children on the island? Where do they come from and where do they end up going? Many questions about why the island is the way it is are unanswered. 

The story itself is supposed to be an allegory about the confusion of growing up and not knowing, but it did leave several of our group unsatisfied and wondering. It was an interesting read that had a very different view of children and childhood, but was also a little confusing at the end. However, we were all very pleased to be able to discuss it virtually! And we did find quite a lot to discuss, so overall we were glad to have the chance to mull it over together.

“There are more important things than what we want. Sometimes it isn't about us. Sometimes we aren't the center of the story.” Laurel Snyder-Orphan Island