So Many Islands

Author: Nicholas Laughlin
Publisher: Saqi Books
ISBN: 1846592089
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 175

Book Description
So Many Islands breaks out bold new writing from the distant shores of countries in the Caribbean, Mediterranean, Indian and Pacific oceans. Here you will find poems about revolution and protest. You will be transported to Marakei, 'the women's island', and join the battle to save a beached whale. Alongside family politics, So Many Islands tackles nuclear testing and climate change – global issues that are close to the heart of these precariously poised communities. Giving voice to their challenges and triumphs, these writers create a vibrant portrait of what it is like to live and love on the small islands they call home. Readers everywhere will find universal connections with their words and worlds. Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Bermuda, Cyprus, Grenada, Jamaica, Kiribati, Malta, Mauritius, Niue, Rotuma (Fiji), Samoa, Singapore, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago

The Inner Islands

Author: Bland Simpson
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
ISBN: 0807876747
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 232

Book Description
Blending history, oral history, autobiography, and travel narrative, Bland Simpson explores the islands that lie in the sounds, rivers, and swamps of North Carolina's inner coast. In each of the fifteen chapters in the book, Simpson covers a single island or group of islands, many of which, were it not for the buffering Outer Banks, would be lost to the ebbs and flows of the Atlantic. Instead they are home to unique plant and animal species and well-established hardwood forests, and many retain vestiges of an earlier human history.

The Book of Islands

Author: Philip Dodd
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781741730296
Category : Islands
Languages : en
Pages : 512

Book Description
The Book Of Islands is an exhilarating journey to some of the most extraordinary and isolated places on earth. From tropical paradises such as Mauritius and Bali, to prison islands like Alcatraz and Robben Island, from the far-flung snowy Kerguelen in Antarctica and Tierra del Fuego at the tip of Latin America to islands in the middle of cities the Ile St-Louis in Paris and Manhattan and those that are cities in their own right, like Venice and Singapore each island has a unique and very distinct character. Included here are places of refuge, escape, exile and mystery the unblinking primitive statues of Easter Island and the dragons of Komodo; islands that have been sanctuaries and monasteries; the homes of hermits, mutineers, emperors and artists; the sites of battles, vendettas and revolutions. Some of the islands featured are under desperate threat from the forces of global warming: rising sea levels and an increase in severe weather conditions. Unless things change dramatically, many of these unique and diverse mini cultures will simply disappear. The Book of Islands presents what could be a last chance to celebrate these diverse and extraordinary places.

The Islands at the End of the World

Author: Austin Aslan
Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books
ISBN: 0385374216
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 386

Book Description
In this fast-paced survival story set in Hawaii, electronics fail worldwide, the islands become completely isolated, and a strange starscape fills the sky. Leilani and her father embark on a nightmare odyssey from Oahu to their home on the Big Island. Leilani’s epilepsy holds a clue to the disaster, if only they can survive as the islands revert to earlier ways. A powerful story enriched by fascinating elements of Hawaiian ecology, culture, and warfare, this captivating and dramatic debut from Austin Aslan is the first of two novels. The author has a master’s degree in tropical conservation biology from the University of Hawaii at Hilo. Praise for Islands at the End of the World: “A riveting tale of belonging, family, overcoming perceived limitations, and finding a home.”--School Library Journal, Starred "Aslan’s debut honors Hawaii’s unique cultural strengths--family ties and love of home, amplified by geography and history--while remaining true to a genre that affirms the mysterious grandeur of the universe waiting to be discovered."--Kirkus Reviews, Starred "Aslan’s debut is a riveting tale of belonging, family, overcoming perceived limitations, and finding a home."--School Library Journal, Starred

Archipelago

Author: Gavan Daws
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 9780520215764
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 288

Book Description
From the 19th-century discoveries of Alfred Russell Wallace to the fate of forests and reefs in the 21st century, examine the beauty and grace of Indonesian Islands. 211 color illustrations. Maps, photos & line drawings.

Islands Beyond the Horizon

Author: Roger Lovegrove
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191651907
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 256

Book Description
Islands have an irresistible attraction and an enduring appeal. Naturalist Roger Lovegrove has visited many of the most remote islands in the world, and in this book he takes the reader to twenty that fascinate him the most. Some are familiar but most are little known; they range from the storm-bound island of South Georgia and the ice-locked Arctic island of Wrangel to the wind-swept, wave-lashed Mykines and St Kilda. The range is diverse and spectacular; and whether distant, offshore, inhabited, uninhabited, tropical or polar, each is a unique self-contained habitat with a delicately-balanced ecosystem, and each has its own mystique and ineffable magnetism. Central to each story is also the impact of human settlers. Lovegrove recounts unforgettable tales of human endeavour, tragedy, and heroism. But consistently, he has to report on the mankind's negative impact on wildlife and habitats — from the exploitation of birds for food to the elimination of native vegetation for crops. By looking not only at the biodiversity of each island, but also the uneasy relationship between its wildlife and the involvement of man, he provides a richly detailed account of each island, its diverse wildlife, its human history, and the efforts of conservationists to retain these irreplaceable sites.

The Islands

Author: William Wall
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
ISBN: 0822983133
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 131

Book Description
William Wall is the first international winner of the Drue Heinz Literature Prize. In this collection of interconnected stories, the beautiful and ravaging forces of sea and land collide with the forces of human nature, through isolation and family, love and loss, madness and revelation. The stories follow the lives of two sisters and the people who come and go in their lives, much like the tides. Dominated by the tragic loss of a third sister at a young age, their family spirals out of control. We witness three stages of the sisters' lives, each taking place on an island—in southwest Ireland, southern England, and the Bay of Naples. Beautifully and sparsely written, the stories deeply evoke landscape and character, and are suffused with a keen eye for detail and metaphor.

Island of the Blue Dolphins

Author: Scott O'Dell
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 0395069629
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 195

Book Description
Far off the coast of California looms a harsh rock known as the island of San Nicholas. Dolphins flash in the blue waters around it, sea otter play in the vast kep beds, and sea elephants loll on the stony beaches. Here, in the early 1800s, according to history, an Indian girl spent eighteen years alone, and this beautifully written novel is her story. It is a romantic adventure filled with drama and heartache, for not only was mere subsistence on so desolate a spot a near miracle, but Karana had to contend with the ferocious pack of wild dogs that had killed her younger brother, constantly guard against the Aleutian sea otter hunters, and maintain a precarious food supply. More than this, it is an adventure of the spirit that will haunt the reader long after the book has been put down. Karana's quiet courage, her Indian self-reliance and acceptance of fate, transform what to many would have been a devastating ordeal into an uplifting experience. From loneliness and terror come strength and serenity in this Newbery Medal-winning classic.

Island's End

Author: Padma Venkatraman
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 110151762X
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 170

Book Description
From the acclaimed author of Climbing the Stairs comes a fascinating story set on a remote island untouched by time. Uido is ecstatic about becoming her tribe's spiritual leader, but her new position brings her older brother's jealousy and her best friend's mistrust. And looming above these troubles are the recent visits of strangers from the mainland who have little regard for nature or the spirits, and tempt the tribe members with gifts, making them curious about modern life. When Uido's little brother falls deathly ill, she must cross the ocean and seek their help. Having now seen so many new things, will Uido have the strength to believe in herself and the old ways? And will her people trust her to lead them to safety when a catastrophic tsunami threatens? Uido must overcome everyone's doubts, including her own, if she is to keep her people safe and preserve the spirituality that has defined them. Drawing on firsthand experience from her travels to the Andaman Islands, Padma Venkatraman was inspired to write this story after meeting natives who survived the 2004 tsunami and have been able to preserve their unique way of life. Uido's transformation from a young girl to tribal leader will touch both your heart and mind.

A Pattern of Islands

Author: Arthur Grimble
Publisher: Eland Pub Limited
ISBN: 9781906011451
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 272

Book Description
The funny, charming, and self-deprecating adventure story of a young man in the Pacific. Living for thirty years in the Gilbert & Ellis Islands, Grimble was ultimately initiated and tattooed according to local tradition, but not before he was severely tested, as when he was used as human bait for a giant octopus. Beyond the hilarious and frightening adventure stories, A Pattern of Islands is also a true testament to the life of these Pacific islanders. Grimble collected stories from the last generation who could remember the full glory of the old pagan ways. This is anthropology with its hair down.