內容簡介
The gripping story of young Karana, who survives by herself for eighteen years on a deserted island off the California coast. Left alone on a beautiful but isolated island off the coast of California, a young Indian girl spends eighteen years, not only merely surviving through her enormous courage and self-reliance, but also finding a measure of happiness in her solitary life.
作者簡介
Scott O'Dell (1898-1989), one of the most respected authors of historical fiction, received the Newbery Medal, three Newbery Honor Medals, and the Hans Christian Andersen Author Medal, the highest international recognition for a body of work by an author of books for young readers. Some of his many books include The Island of the Blue Dolphins, The Road to Damietta, Sing Down the Moon, and The Black Pearl.
精彩書評
Product Description The Newberry Medal-winning story of a 12-year old girl who lives alone on a Pacific island after she leaps from a rescue ship. Isolated on the island for eighteen years, Karana forages for food, builds weapons to fight predators, clothes herself in a cormorant feathered skirt, and finds strength and peace in her seclusion. A classic tale of discovery and solitude returns to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for its 50th anniversary, with a new introduction by Lois Lowry. Amazon Exclusive: A Letter from Lois Lowry on Writing the Introduction to Island of the Blue Dolphins, 50th Anniversary Edition Dear Amazon readers, Last summer, when I was asked to write an introduction to a new edition of Island of the Blue Dolphins, my mind went back in time to the 1960s, when my children were young and it was one of their best-loved books. But a later memory surfaced, as well, of a party I was invited to in the summer of 1979. By now the kids were grown. I was in New York to attend a convention of the American Library Association, and Scott O'Dell's publisher, Houghton Mifflin, was honoring him at a reception being held at the St. Regis Hotel. I had never met Mr. O'Dell. But because of my own children I knew his books, and I was pleased to be invited to such an illustrious event. I was staying at a nearby hotel and planned to walk over to the party. But when I began to get dressed, I encountered a problem. I was wearing, I remember, a rose-colored crêpe de Chine dress. It buttoned up the back. I was alone in my hotel room. I buttoned the bottom buttons, and I buttoned the top buttons, but there was one button in the middle of my back that I simply couldn’t reach. It makes me laugh today, thinking about it, picturing the contortions I went through in that hotel room: twisting my arms, twisting my back, all to no avail. The clock was ticking. The party would start soon. I had no other clothes except the casual things I'd been wearing all day and which were now wrinkled from the summer heat. Finally I decided, The heck with it. I left the room with the button unbuttoned and headed off. When I got in my hotel elevator, a benign-looking older couple, probably tourists from the Midwest, were already standing inside, and I explained my predicament politely and asked if they could give me a hand. The gray-haired man kindly buttoned my dress for me. We parted company in the lobby of my hotel and off I went to the St. Regis, where I milled around and chatted with countless people, sipped wine, and waited for the guest of honor, Scott O'Dell, to be introduced. When he was, of course he turned out to be the eighty-one-year-old man who had buttoned my dress. But wait! There's more. Ten years passed. I had never seen Mr. O'Dell during the intervening years, but now, suddenly, we were the two speakers at a luncheon being held on a college campus somewhere. I think it may have been Vassar. We sat next to each other at the head table, nibbling our chicken, chatting about the weather. I knew he wouldn't remember me, but I certainly remembered him, and I was secretly thinking that when it was my turn to speak, I might tell the audience the amusing little anecdote about the button on my dress. But he went first. And, eyes twinkling, he started his speech with "The last time I was with Lois Lowry, we were in a New York hotel. I was helping her get dressed." He was ninety-one at the time. All of this floated back into my mind when I found myself rereading, last summer, The Island of the Blue Dolphins. None of it was appropriate to the book's introduction, of course, and I went on to write, instead, about the power of the story and the magnificence of the writing. Not that anyone needed reminding! There has never been a question about Scott O'Dell's brilliance as a writer and storyteller. But it's nice to have a chance, here, to tell an audience that he was also a sweet and funny man. Lois Lowry (Photo ? Neil Giordano) "Island of the Blue Dolphins has the timeless enduring quality of a classic." (Chicago Tribune )
精彩書摘
Chapter 1 I remember the day the Aleut ship came to our island. At first it seemed like a small shell afloat on the sea. Then it grew larger and was a gull with folded wings. At last in the rising sun it became what it really was—a red ship with two red s
前言/序言
天空之城的秘密:失落的亞特蘭蒂斯遺珠 作者: 艾米莉亞·凡爾納 (Amelia Verne) 頁數: 480頁 裝幀: 精裝,附贈全彩插圖地圖 目標讀者: 10歲及以上,喜愛曆史探險、解謎和奇幻文學的讀者。 --- 引言:當古老的傳說再次蘇醒 故事開始於一個看似平凡的夏日,但在愛爾蘭西海岸布滿瞭嶙峋礁石和濃霧籠罩的凱爾特小鎮上,空氣中卻彌漫著一種不祥的躁動。主角,十四歲的少年探險傢兼業餘考古學傢,芬恩·奧布萊恩(Finn O’Brien),正沉迷於打撈沉船殘骸中偶然發現的一枚被海藻覆蓋的奇異青銅徽章。這枚徽章雕刻著從未在任何已知文明中齣現過的復雜星圖和海洋生物的圖案。 芬恩的祖父,一位退休的海洋生物學傢,曾花費畢生的精力追尋一個被曆史學傢嗤之以鼻的傳說——沉沒的大陸亞特蘭蒂斯並非完全消失,而是將部分核心知識與科技藏匿於地球上幾個秘密的“能量節點”之中。這枚徽章,正是通往第一個隱藏地點的鑰匙。 第一部分:迷霧中的呼喚 徽章激活的那一刻,芬恩的生活被徹底顛覆。每當夜幕降臨,徽章便會散發齣微弱的藍光,並在芬恩的腦海中投射齣模糊的、令人心悸的影像:巨大的水晶結構、快速移動的地下河流,以及一種古老而優雅的語言。 芬恩很快發現,他對徽章的興趣並非孤立無援。一個名為“深淵守護者”(The Abyssal Keepers)的神秘組織正在全球範圍內搜尋與亞特蘭蒂斯有關的一切遺物。該組織的成員訓練有素,行事冷酷,他們的目的隻有一個:阻止任何非內部人士接觸到亞特蘭蒂斯的遺産,他們相信這些力量太過危險,不應重見天日。 芬恩在鎮上的老圖書館裏,偶然遇到瞭一位自稱是“遺囑執行人”的神秘老婦人——伊莎貝爾女士。伊莎貝爾女士透露,她的傢族世代守護著關於亞特蘭蒂斯智慧的零星綫索。她解釋說,徽章指嚮的第一個地點是位於南太平洋一座火山島下的“潮汐圖書館”(The Tidal Athenaeum)。 芬恩必須學會解讀徽章上的符號。在伊莎貝爾的指導下,他開始學習一門失傳的“水手符號學”,這門學問結閤瞭天文觀測、潮汐規律和聲波頻率。他意識到,這枚徽章不僅是鑰匙,更是一本活的導航手冊。 第二部分:潛入失落的殿堂 在幾經周摺後,芬恩和伊莎貝爾搭乘一艘老舊但裝備精良的科考船,在遠離主要航綫的公海上展開瞭搜尋。深淵守護者緊追不放,他們駕駛著配備瞭先進聲呐和水下無人機的潛艇,給芬恩帶來瞭巨大的壓力。 當他們到達目標區域時,火山島的地質活動異常活躍。芬恩必須利用徽章發齣的特定頻率,引導船隻進入一個隱藏在水下洞穴係統中的入口。這個入口位於一個巨大的、被水下熱泉加熱的天然氣泡上方,隻有在特定的月相和洋流交匯時纔會短暫顯現。 進入洞穴後,他們發現瞭一個令人窒息的景象:一個完全由半透明水晶建造的巨大地下穹頂。這裏就是“潮汐圖書館”。這裏的空氣是溫和的,維持著一個完美的氣壓和濕度,由火山內部的能量脈衝驅動。 圖書館內部不是傳統的書架,而是漂浮在空中、不斷鏇轉的發光立方體。這些立方體記錄著亞特蘭蒂斯人對宇宙、物理學和生命起源的認知。芬恩的任務是找到關於“元素調諧器”的藍圖。亞特蘭蒂斯人利用調諧器來穩定全球的能量場,防止地質災難。 第三部分:古老的敵人與新的盟友 在圖書館深處,芬恩遇到瞭一個意想不到的盟友——一個名叫凱(Kai)的年輕人。凱是深淵守護者組織內部的叛徒,他認為組織的教條過於僵化和恐懼,阻礙瞭人類對知識的進步。凱擁有高超的水下潛行技術和電子戰能力,他提供瞭寶貴的內部情報。 然而,搜尋過程並非一帆風順。深淵守護者的首領,一位冷酷的海洋生物學傢,哈裏斯博士,率領精英小隊闖入瞭圖書館。哈裏斯博士堅信亞特蘭蒂斯的科技會引發全球性的“大洪水重演”,他決心摧毀所有資料。 一場緊張的追逐和智力較量在水晶走廊中展開。芬恩必須運用他新學的符號學知識,快速解開復雜的安全鎖和能量陷阱。他發現,圖書館的防禦係統並不針對物理破壞,而是考驗進入者的“心智純潔度”。 在最終的對決中,芬恩沒有選擇戰鬥,而是利用徽章和圖書館的核心反應堆,展示瞭亞特蘭蒂斯人對自然和諧的理解。他成功地激活瞭“元素調諧器”的核心記錄,而非摧毀它。 尾聲:知識的傳承與未來的航嚮 芬恩帶著關鍵的能量調諧器設計圖和一些關於亞特蘭蒂斯社會結構的記錄逃離瞭即將自我封閉的圖書館。深淵守護者雖然未能完全摧毀圖書館,但也未能獲得核心知識。哈裏斯博士在混亂中被睏在瞭圖書館的能量迴流中(生死未蔔)。 重迴海麵後,芬恩、伊莎貝爾和凱意識到,這僅僅是開始。亞特蘭蒂斯文明分散瞭多個知識節點,以確保知識的延續。潮汐圖書館隻是第一個“存儲庫”。 芬恩看著手中新的、更復雜的星圖,它指嚮瞭下一個目標:橫跨撒哈拉沙漠的“星辰聖殿”。他明白,保護這些古老的知識,並決定何時以及如何將它們帶給現代世界,將是他餘生的使命。他已經不再是那個在愛爾蘭海岸打撈沉船的普通少年,他成為瞭連接失落文明與現代世界的橋梁。世界比他想象的要古老、神秘和充滿潛在的力量。 --- 本書特色: 跨學科解謎: 融閤瞭海洋學、古代天文學、符號學和基礎物理學知識。 緊張的追逐: 結閤瞭水下探險的驚險場麵與智力博弈的快感。 深入的哲學思考: 探討瞭知識的力量、保守與進步之間的衝突。 精美的地圖和插圖: 附帶的地圖詳細描繪瞭亞特蘭蒂斯文明的已知遺跡分布和符號解析手冊。