Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Ten top islands in children's fiction

Gillian Philip’s latest book is Mysteries of Ravenstorm Island: The Lost Children. One of her top ten islands in children's fiction, as shared at the Guardian:
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

Was ever a 19th century classic so page-turningly readable? You can practically smell the rum in the Admiral Benbow Inn, or the salt crusting the sails of the Hispaniola. Jim the cabin boy is not especially well served by his adult allies – the bumbling, big-mouthed Squire Trelawney, the righteous and rather smug Dr Livesey – but he has the best enemy possible in Long John Silver. As events come to a violent climax on Treasure Island itself, Jim and John fight a battle of wits on hot and hostile terrain. I rather wish Long John had reappeared in a sequel of his own… but at least he’s immortal. Yo ho ho, indeed.
Read about another entry on the list.

Treasure Island also appears on Robert Gore-Langton's top twelve list of the greatest children's books of all time, Emily St. John Mandel's list of the six books that influenced her most as a writer, David McCallum's six best books list, Bear Grylls's top ten list of adventure stories, Eoin Colfer's top 10 list of villains in fiction, Charlie Fletcher's top ten list of swashbuckling tales of derring-do, Robert McCrum's list of the ten best first lines in fiction, John Mullan's list of ten of the best pirates in fiction, and among Mal Peet's top ten books to read aloud, Philip Pullman's six best books, and Eoin Colfer's six favorite books.

--Marshal Zeringue