June Book Club: "Kensuke's Kingdom" by Michael Morpurgo

I am late getting my blog updated with our June book club selection. But I thought I should still add it so you can all see how we finished up our book club year. Our last book for this school year was "Kensuke's Kingdom" by the award-winning British author, Michael Morpurgo. This adventure book is one of my favorites...in fact, it is the first time in five years of running the AKBC that I have repeated a book. The very first line of the book is, "I disappeared on the night before my twelfth birthday." Thus begins an intriguing and poignant story that starts in England and ends up halfway around the world where the 12-year-old protagonist, Michael, and his dog, Stella, are thrown overboard off his family's yacht in the middle of the night and end up on a wild and hostile island teaming with screeching gibbons, ravenous mosquitoes, and one very strange human--an old Japanese sailor named Kensuke who has been living alone on the island for years. At first, Kensuke is angry and agitated by Michael's intrusion but slowly they forge a deep friendship. Michael never gives up hope of being rescued, however, and that day finally comes after nearly a year on the island. I don't want to give away the amazing ending so I'll leave it at that. "Kensuke's Kingdom" is a beautifully written tale of family life, survival, and true friendship.