Damselfly

Gr 7 Up—When Sam Mishra's plane crashes on an uninhabited island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, she and the surviving members of the Drake Rosemont fencing team have to figure out how to stay alive. Finding food, water, and shelter turns out to be relatively easy—it's other, more insidious forces that prove challenging for these students from an elite boarding school. When the teens discover threatening messages written in the sand, they realize that they are not alone on the island. In addition to the looming menace of the unknown inhabitant, rifts between the teens expose cracks in the veneer of civility. Issues of class and race come into play as group members form allegiances and make decisions that have life-or-death consequences. One charismatic teen, Rittika, attempts to pit those with brown skin (Golds) against those with white skin (Pales), claiming that those with brown skin are survivors, better able to adapt, and in all ways superior to those with pale skin. Sam is forced to decide if she will align herself with Mel, her very white best friend, or with Rittika, a fellow Indian American. Reminiscent of The Lord of the Flies (with a bit of The Swiss Family Robinson), Prasad's debut is a compelling modern-day adventure. The tale of survival outshines the less well-developed exploration of race and class as it affects student relationships. The rushed and somewhat unresolved ending begs for a sequel.