Nim’s Island by Wendy Orr

“In a palm tree, on an island, in the middle of the wide blue sea, was a girl.”

This is an absolute gem of a book. I discovered it first as a movie and then couldn’t wait to read the book.

My boys and I have listened to this as an audio book many times, it’s one our favourites. Wendy Orr writes in such a familiar, fun, down to earth style. It’s the kind of nostalgic book that makes you want to nestle down and cheer on the very unlikely hero’s.

Nim lives with her scientist father Jack (who is slightly obsessed with plankton). Her best friends are Fred, an iguana, Selkie, a sea lion and Chica, a green sea turtle. Nim used to have a mother but her mother disappeared while she was investigating the contents of a whale’s stomach. The experiment would have been safe except for the troppo tourists who came up on their huge pink and purple boat and bumped against the whale so it dove deeply into the ocean. No one knew where it came back up again even though Jack and Nim sailed round and round the world looking.

Nim and Jack have an idyllic life. They fish, have a lovely garden and live in tropical paradise doing science and sharing their discoveries with the world via e-mail with their satellite Internet.

One day Jack goes out on his boat for a few days to see if he can find a new type of plankton. Nim is left alone. But that’s okay because she has her friends and her work. Nim makes a new friend over e-mail, the adventure writer Alex Rover whose characters go on daring, dangerous, exhilarating adventures, always triumphing in the end.

When a storm comes in suddenly and Jack isn’t answering the satellite phone what will Nim do? And when Alex Rover—who lives on the top of a very tall apartment building in a bustling city—discovers that Nim is all by herself on an island what will Alex Rover do? 

Just because someone writes about daring adventures and thrilling rescues doesn’t mean that they are brave and strong. And just because a young girl is alone on an island with an erupting volcano, swirling hurricane and crazy tourists doesn’t mean she can’t be brave and strong.

Wendy Orr’s writing style is enchanting; you’ll be swept away to your own tropical island paradise in no time. Nim’s crazy adventures and heart-warming friendships mean you’ve got a smile on your face through the whole book.  

Happy Reading!!