Robinson, Lewis. The Islanders. Islandport Press, 2024.
Reason read: Early Review for LibraryThing.
The Islanders centers on protagonist, Walt McNamara, whose high school career slid violently out of control after he discovered his father’s affair with a teacher at his school. Walt, an easily manipulated teenager, needs structure and guidance to get back on track. That support comes from an opportunity to attend WILD, a leadership camp on an island off the coast of Maine. [As an aside, are not many details that make this island specific to Maine. It could be an island off the coast of anywhere cold.] On the island of Whaleback Walt and other troubled teenagers form groups called Huddles and learn leaderships skills in the form of exercise, survival and combat drills. As they get stronger and more confident, the teenagers learn to trust one another. Each Huddle is isolated from the others, except during competitions, which forces deep relationships to form. I found it curious that none of the campers are from the same state. There are not two New Hampshires or Maines in the group. This makes it really easy for the team leads to call them by something other than their first names. Less personal that way. As times goes on the teenagers figure out they are attending a leadership camp with hidden agendas. At first, Robinson keeps the reader guessing by patiently doling out clues, one crumb at a time. Then without warning, the action heats up to breakneck speed. I found myself going back through chapters to figure out what changed within the story to force the sudden acceleration of plot. The end what not as satisfying as I would have hoped.
When you know a little bit about something familiar your mind starts to fill in the blanks. I know a little something about islands so I am picturing the culture when reading The Islanders. Whaleback Island easily could have been Hurricane Island, The WILD program could have been called Outward Bound.
Setlist: Arcade Fire, Guns N’ Roses, “Heigh Ho”, “Legs” by ZZ Top, “More Than a Feeling” by Boston, “Tom Sawyer” by Rush, “We are Family”, and “Amazing Grace”.
~*LunaSea*~ 