SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About TLT
  • Reviews
    • Book Reviews
    • A to Z Book Lists
    • Book Review Policy
  • Teen Issues
  • Middle Grade Mondays
  • Programs
    • TPiB
    • Tech Talk
  • Professional
    • Teen Services 101
    • Things We Didn’t Learn in Library School
  • MakerSpace
  • Projects
    • #SVYALit
    • #FSYALit
    • #MHYALit
    • #Poverty in YA Lit

July 6, 2012 by Karen Jensen, MLS

Book Review: Lost Girls by Ann Kelley

July 6, 2012 by Karen Jensen, MLS   Leave a Comment

No parents. No rules. No way home.

Set in the time of the Vietnam war, Lost Girls by Ann Kelley is the story of 14-year-old Bonnie who is living with her military family on a base in Thailand.  A group of girls, a part of the Amelia Earhart Cadets (think Girl Scouts), leave for a tropical island retreat when they are swept away by a hurricane and deposited on the wrong island by a boatman who declares it “forbidden island” before leaving them to seek help.

After a violent storm washes away most of their provisions, the girls are forced to learn to fend for themselves and in true Lord of the Flies fashion, it doesn’t always bring out the best in the girls.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

One of the items that Bonnie was able to save is her journal, and each chapter includes journal entries that highlight her decaying state of mind, frustration and the growing urgency to find food and shelter.  While on the island the girls run into a variety of complications, including wild animals, disease and the betrayal of their camp counselor; it turns out she isn’t much of a survivalist after all.

There are things that really make me want to recommend this book: it is an adventure story with females and is accessible to all ages because there is not any real bad content, it references Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance throughout, and I truly did learn some useful survival tips from it.  For the record, I personally hope I never need to use them.  Stephanie Wilkes would like the fact that they mention that the girls have stopped menstruating due to malnutrition, she always says she likes it when books address those issues.

There are a couple of things that really frustrated me as a reader: most of the characters are pretty unappealing (although there is obvious emotional and physical wear and tear on them that makes some of their attitudes understandable), I felt like there should be more of a sense of urgency among the girls, and Bonnie often seems very emotionally detached as she is telling the story and her voice didn’t draw me in the way I would have liked for it to.

In the end I give Lost Girls 3 out of 5 stars, recommending it for libraries with larger budgets and giving it bonus points for a shark attack.  Although Lost Girls is set in a historical era and it references the Vietnam War, the isolation of the island makes this more of a survival story than true historical fiction.  There are, however, some reference to Buddhism and its practices that are woven into the story that I found interesting and enlightening.  Lost Girls comes out in July from Little, Brown.

Filed under: Ann Kelley, Book Reviews, Lost Girls

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments

About Karen Jensen, MLS

Karen Jensen has been a Teen Services Librarian for almost 30 years. She created TLT in 2011 and is the co-editor of The Whole Library Handbook: Teen Services with Heather Booth (ALA Editions, 2014).

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

June 2022

Book Review: The Name She Gave Me by Betty Culley

by Karen Jensen, MLS

June 2022

Book Review: The Loophole by Naz Kutub

by Karen Jensen, MLS

June 2022

Post-It Note Reviews: Graphic novels, picture books, and more!

by Karen Jensen, MLS

June 2022

Book Review: Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White

by Karen Jensen, MLS

May 2022

Take 5: Recent graphic novels reviews

by Karen Jensen, MLS

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

Read Aloud Hall of Fame #8: LET ME FINISH! by Minh Lê and Isabel Roxas

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Review of the Day: My Parents Won’t Stop Talking! by Emma Hunsinger and Tillie Walden

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Casagrandes | This Week’s Comics

by Lori Henderson

Heavy Medal

Continuing the Mock Newbery Process: Time for July Suggestions

by Steven Engelfried

Teen Librarian Toolbox

An Ode to Summer, a guest post by Ellen Hagan

by Amanda MacGregor

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

Shark Week, Vanilla Ice Cream, and the Honda CRV: Bob Shea and Brian Won Team Up for ADURABLE

by Travis Jonker

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

Duke MDs’ Prescription for Schools? Masks, with Enforcement, and Psychological Support for Teachers, Students.

8 YA BookTubers To Watch Right Now

Board Book Evolution: No Longer 'Just for Babies'

37 Kidlit and YA Titles in Honor of Hispanic Heritage Month

19 Webcomics To Keep Kids and Teens Engaged

Commenting for all posts is disabled after 30 days.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

Follow This Blog

Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

Primary Sidebar

  • News & Features
  • Reviews+
  • Technology
  • School Libraries
  • Public Libraries
  • Age Level
  • Ideas
  • Blogs
  • Classroom
  • Diversity
  • People
  • Job Zone

Reviews+

  • Book Lists
  • Best Books
  • Media
  • Reference
  • Series Made Simple
  • Tech
  • Review for SLJ
  • Review Submissions

SLJ Blog Network

  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal
  • Neverending Search
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn

Resources

  • 2022 Youth Media Awards
  • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
  • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
  • Summer Reading 2021
  • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
  • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
  • Summer Programming Survey
  • Research
  • White Papers / Case Studies
  • School Librarian of the Year
  • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
  • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

Events & PD

  • In-Person Events
  • Online Courses
  • Virtual Events
  • Webcasts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Media Inquiries
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Content Submissions
  • Data Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Terms of Sale
  • FAQs
  • Diversity Policy
  • Careers at MSI


COPYRIGHT © 2022


COPYRIGHT © 2022