Shipwreck Island

Struan Murray's Shipwreck Island is a sea-soaked fantasy adventure for 10 year olds about two runaways who wash up somewhere that seems far too good to be true.

What happens

Ellie and Seth have been drifting for three months on a raft they built themselves. They're starving, they're sunburnt and they're getting on each other's nerves. To pass the time they play a game where they take turns saying what they hope the next island will be like.

Ellie invents things. She has a coat full of pockets and a bad leg. Seth is a very tall boy who can call fish out of the sea and sometimes dreams he's a whale. He's also a god, although he'd rather not talk about it (or use his powers, which wipe him out).

They've clearly been through a LOT before page one. There's a City they've escaped, an Inquisition that tried to burn Seth, and a wicked god called the Enemy that Ellie is still frightened of. The book fills you in as it goes, so you won't feel lost.

The island they find is gorgeous. There's a village on stilts, a market full of music and a giant ancient ship perched right on top of the hill. Everyone is friendly. Everyone says "Praise Her" about the Queen who lives up in that ship.

But Ellie hears the Queen executes anyone from the City. And a mysterious ship with a black sail has just pulled up on the beach...

It's the friendship that makes this one. Ellie and Seth bicker like brother and sister (they even pretend they are). There's a lovely jealous streak too, when Ellie notices that everyone smiles at Seth and nobody looks at her. And there are some great new characters, like Viola the fisher girl with a kitten on her shoulder, and a very grumpy twelve-year-old who owns the local inn.

Worth knowing before you hand it over

Between the chapters there's a diary from a girl on the old ship, and one entry ends with a whale being cut open and a hand reaching out. There's talk of beheadings too, even in the children's games.

So it's not one for a nervous reader. But if yours loves a big, strange world with secrets around every corner, they'll be gripped.

What to read next

After all that salt water, The Shark Caller could be next. It's set on the coast of Papua New Guinea, with a girl called Blue Wing who dives off the coral and is desperate to learn the old magic of calling sharks.