They are better able to teach Ess because they allow her to fail. Jinny is frustrated when the others take over. She displays this same over-protective behavior in all of her lessons. But Jinny would rather keep Ess far from the water than teach her to swim. She tries to teach the girl reading, swimming and other important aspects of island life. Caring for Ess is a lot of work, but Jinny quickly grows to love her. She becomes a surrogate mother to the new girl, Ess. The book opens with Jinny saying a painful goodbye to her friend Deen and taking over as Elder. The Elder is charged with keeping things running smoothly for all and teaching the Care how to survive and thrive on the island. The oldest remaining child becomes the Elder, and the new child becomes his or her Care.

The oldest child then gets into the boat and sails away into the great unknown. Each year, a boat arrives carrying a new, young child. The only real sadness the children experience comes with the Changing.

Just as there are unique rules of nature on the island, there are other rules of protocol handed down year after year. If a child gets close to a cliff’s edge, the wind pulls him back. She and her seven young companions live on an island, where they find plenty of food, live in huts and read books someone left long before. Any more, the sky might fall.” Jinny has heard this rhyme as long as she can remember. Agent: Tina Wexler, ICM.“Eight on an island, orphans all. The dissonance Jinny feels is universal, and Snyder’s skillful storytelling and lyrical writing heighten its impact. Although the children’s ages are unspecified, the eldest islander is on the cusp of adolescence, beginning to yearn for more than the small island can provide, even while dreading to leave the comfort and stability it provides. Through the precocious Jinny, Snyder ( Seven Stories Up) delivers a contemplative commentary on the transition from childhood to adolescence, and from ignorance to awareness. As Jinny teaches Ess to contribute and uphold the cryptic rules that promise chaos if broken, she begins to question the unexplained dictates, opting to take charge of her actions and destiny.

It’s Jinny’s responsibility, as the elder, to care for the newly arrived Ess, despite the fact that Jinny is heartbroken over losing the previous elder, Deen, her best friend. New children are delivered to the island by a mysterious boat, and whenever one arrives, the eldest on the island takes the arrival’s place aboard the vessel to leave the only home he or she has ever known, with no knowledge of what the future holds. Jinny is the oldest of nine orphans living on an idyllic island.

Orphan island by laurel snyder