Inspired by a question from a reader, I decided to consider the following scenario: If fate dropped me on a deserted island with enough gear to survive, no hope of immediate rescue, and ten young adult books, which books would I want most? To qualify for my list, each book would need to be suitably complex and compelling that I would want to read them again and again. I might be here for awhile.
Wait - is that a ship on the horizon? Dang. Just a fat albatross.
An initial pass produced a list of forty. That was the easy part. So I started chopping. I chopped some limbs for a shelter, and leaves for catching rainwater. I also chopped my list to twenty-five.
Look - is that a naval buoy? Nope. Just a Wilson volleyball. How'd that get here?
The second pass required whittling. So I began whittling. I whittled a totem for the top of my shelter, and a long stick for spearing fish in the shallows. I also whittled my book list to seventeen. Seventeen. I just couldn't slice any further. And it is now too late to change the post to "Seventeen Books on a Desert Island". Oh, well - you try it, and see what list you come up with. Leave a comment!
Here is my list, in no particular order:
- Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
- The City and the Stars by Arthur C. Clarke
- Say Goodnight, Gracie by Julie Deaver
- Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
- The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
- Harry Potter, Volume 1 by J.K. Rowling
- Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
- And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
- The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer
- Sabriel by Garth Nix
- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
- Alive by Piers Paul Read
- The Road by Cormac McCarthy
- Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
- The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
- The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
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