Island of the Blue Dolphins Study Guide

Island of the Blue Dolphins opens with Karana remembering the day the Aleut ship with the red sails came to the island. She firstly believes the ship to be a shell on the sea and then a gull with folded wings before she realizes what it actually is. Karana and her brother are in a small harbor called Coral Cove, collecting roots that the tribe needs for food. She reveals that she is twelve and her brother Ramo is half her age. She continues working diligently throughout the scene while her excitable little brother runs about, going on about the ship with red sails. Karana tries to convince Ramo that it is not a ship, it is only a red dolphin and that he does not know everything. (read more)