ADRIFT

Stranded on a deserted island, a 13-year-old struggles to survive while her cousin refuses to give up hope that she’s alive.

Coral and Isa Bituin-Rousseau may be cousins, but they’re as close as siblings: Their Filipina mothers are sisters who married brothers, the girls’ White American fathers. They grew up together in Pebble Island, New York, eating lobster Isa’s father caught and their mothers’ Filipino cooking. The two are rarely apart except when Coral and her parents go on one of their journeys to see the world. Following an earthquake and tidal wave while they are sailing through the Indonesian archipelago, Coral is thrown overboard and stranded on an uninhabited island. With the help of survival skills learned from her father and mysterious gifts of freshly killed small game, Coral keeps herself alive. But how long will it be before rescue comes? Isa, meanwhile, is left alone on Pebble Island, with parents who seem willing to abandon hope and a newly introduced cousin who Isa can’t help but feel is meant to replace Coral. Partly a survival story and partly an exploration of coping with grief, heavy topics are touched upon with a soft hand. Coral’s struggles and triumphs offer an introduction to the wilderness adventure genre, but more experienced readers may find her a little too lucky. Isa’s story serves as a nice counterpoint to Coral’s, as she struggles with moving on and forming new relationships.

A survival story with some guardrails still in place.