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departingin5mins's review against another edition
5.0
The Black Pearl
Scott O’Dell
I remember reading this book in elementary school, a very long time ago. The book had an impact on me and my classmates. I remember how much we talked about menstruous manta rays. So I decided to revisit my youth with this mystical story.
Life takes us in the most unexpected directions. I’ve become completely fluent in Spanish, and I’ve traveled Mexico extensively. Reading this, I revisited the towns my wife and I stayed in on a road trip from the southern tip of Baja California to the northern tip of the peninsula.
Aside from my personal connections to this book, I found this book as mystical and as exciting as I remembered it. Back then, it never occurred to me to read another Scott O’Dell book, but I’m going to read another one now.
Scott O’Dell
I remember reading this book in elementary school, a very long time ago. The book had an impact on me and my classmates. I remember how much we talked about menstruous manta rays. So I decided to revisit my youth with this mystical story.
Life takes us in the most unexpected directions. I’ve become completely fluent in Spanish, and I’ve traveled Mexico extensively. Reading this, I revisited the towns my wife and I stayed in on a road trip from the southern tip of Baja California to the northern tip of the peninsula.
Aside from my personal connections to this book, I found this book as mystical and as exciting as I remembered it. Back then, it never occurred to me to read another Scott O’Dell book, but I’m going to read another one now.
l1ndsayb's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
sayre_morgan's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
2.25
graciegrace1178's review against another edition
4.0
Holy smokes! This is not what I expected!! 4.33 stars. Possibly closer to 5, still debating!
PT: RAtW: La Paz (and surrounding areas)
WIL
1) SCOTT O'DELL? I don't know how it happened exactly, but somehow while I was reading this I totally forgot Scott O'Dell was the author. Was pleasantly surprised about halfway through when I checked the author's name again! SCOTT, YOU'RE AWESOME, MAN. He has the *range.*
Between [b:Island of the Blue Dolphins|41044096|Island of the Blue Dolphins|Scott O'Dell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1533405446l/41044096._SX50_.jpg|3215136] (1960) and this, O'Dell is quickly climbing the ranks to becoming one of my favorite authors again. He's got an almost Vernian style, but instead of sci-fi, his primary genre is like,, anthropological historical fiction. INCREDIBLE.
2) Historical fiction, meet fantasy. Or rather, folklore I suppose. STILL THOUGH. The intersection of historical fiction narrative with folklore that's been (re)vitalized into a human story? That's amazing. That's very DISNEY actually. O'Dell really gets genius loci and he weaves it into the text so SEAMLESSLY.
3) For students. The symbols + themes + characters here are not hard to grasp or relate to. Most of them are pretty surface level, with a few slightly subsurface themes. This, incidentally, makes this a particularly noteworthy/valuable read for teachers introducing students to literature structures. Which is SO COOL. It's an all-around fantastic school choice because 1) geography/reading around the world genius loci stuff, 2) intro to literature concepts 3) clear language with the occasional new vocab word 4) compelling narrative/chapter cliffhangers. This is a paragon of children's literature honestly.
WIDL
1) Over and done. I think this narrative will stick around with me for a while, but it doesn't resonate enough to earn it the five-star rating. I read it, and I'm glad to have done so, but it's not quite up there with the rest of the 5 stars.
NEUTRAL GROUND
1) O'Dell is amazing, wonderful, awesome. I think I've thoroughly established this now, but just in case you missed it? O'DELL IS AMAZING, WONDERFUL, AWESOME.
2) It's hardly fair of me to compare this to the obviously incomparable Island of the Blue Dolphins, but here I go anyway:
SIMILARITIES
a) writing style consistency. Granted, it's been a while since I've read IotBD, but from what I do remember, O'Dell's got a very distinct and characteristic writing style that continues through into this story as well (The Black Pearl publication date: 1967). That's just a delightful trait in children's stories that is sometimes less reliable in young adult/general content reads.
b) geographically based. heck yea!!! HECK YEA! Love that!!! Both TBP and IotBD are HEAVILY tethered to their respective geographic locations (in narrative, character culture, etc.), and that's EXACTLY what I look for in RAtW books! AWESOME! This has revived me for more Reading Around the World books.
DIFFERENCES
a) just,, TBP wasn't quite on the same level as IotBD for me. Blue Dolphins had so much heart, and TBP did have some heart, but just not nearly as much.
PT: RAtW: La Paz (and surrounding areas)
WIL
1) SCOTT O'DELL? I don't know how it happened exactly, but somehow while I was reading this I totally forgot Scott O'Dell was the author. Was pleasantly surprised about halfway through when I checked the author's name again! SCOTT, YOU'RE AWESOME, MAN. He has the *range.*
Between [b:Island of the Blue Dolphins|41044096|Island of the Blue Dolphins|Scott O'Dell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1533405446l/41044096._SX50_.jpg|3215136] (1960) and this, O'Dell is quickly climbing the ranks to becoming one of my favorite authors again. He's got an almost Vernian style, but instead of sci-fi, his primary genre is like,, anthropological historical fiction. INCREDIBLE.
2) Historical fiction, meet fantasy. Or rather, folklore I suppose. STILL THOUGH. The intersection of historical fiction narrative with folklore that's been (re)vitalized into a human story? That's amazing. That's very DISNEY actually. O'Dell really gets genius loci and he weaves it into the text so SEAMLESSLY.
3) For students. The symbols + themes + characters here are not hard to grasp or relate to. Most of them are pretty surface level, with a few slightly subsurface themes. This, incidentally, makes this a particularly noteworthy/valuable read for teachers introducing students to literature structures. Which is SO COOL. It's an all-around fantastic school choice because 1) geography/reading around the world genius loci stuff, 2) intro to literature concepts 3) clear language with the occasional new vocab word 4) compelling narrative/chapter cliffhangers. This is a paragon of children's literature honestly.
WIDL
1) Over and done. I think this narrative will stick around with me for a while, but it doesn't resonate enough to earn it the five-star rating. I read it, and I'm glad to have done so, but it's not quite up there with the rest of the 5 stars.
NEUTRAL GROUND
1) O'Dell is amazing, wonderful, awesome. I think I've thoroughly established this now, but just in case you missed it? O'DELL IS AMAZING, WONDERFUL, AWESOME.
2) It's hardly fair of me to compare this to the obviously incomparable Island of the Blue Dolphins, but here I go anyway:
SIMILARITIES
a) writing style consistency. Granted, it's been a while since I've read IotBD, but from what I do remember, O'Dell's got a very distinct and characteristic writing style that continues through into this story as well (The Black Pearl publication date: 1967). That's just a delightful trait in children's stories that is sometimes less reliable in young adult/general content reads.
b) geographically based. heck yea!!! HECK YEA! Love that!!! Both TBP and IotBD are HEAVILY tethered to their respective geographic locations (in narrative, character culture, etc.), and that's EXACTLY what I look for in RAtW books! AWESOME! This has revived me for more Reading Around the World books.
DIFFERENCES
a) just,, TBP wasn't quite on the same level as IotBD for me. Blue Dolphins had so much heart, and TBP did have some heart, but just not nearly as much.
berlydawn2's review against another edition
3.0
This is a story of a 16 yr old boy who longs to be like his father and be a great pearl diver. (this was before oxygen tanks exsisted and when you dove you held your breath) He sets his sights on a Black Pearl - but legend has it that the devil of the sea will make you pay if you removed it from the ocean
mavericksfan1's review
2.0
Looking for required reading for my school. It's a fast read. Not great. Good "boy/adventure" book. Ending is ambiguous.
onetrooluff's review against another edition
3.0
I've been making my way through Scott O'Dell books as I come across them, and I got this one for free from my husband's co-worker.
I don't know much about the era or location so I can't really comment on the accuracy of the depiction, but the story is interesting and I feel like I learned something about pearl diving.
I'd recommend this book for middle grade, either girls or boys.
I don't know much about the era or location so I can't really comment on the accuracy of the depiction, but the story is interesting and I feel like I learned something about pearl diving.
I'd recommend this book for middle grade, either girls or boys.
wardo2700's review against another edition
3.0
I have mixed feelings about this rather short book. Maybe it was too short to develop a deeper story that would have grabbed my attention better. Maybe it was the emphasis on the legend of what a manta ray could do to the village people as I don't believe an animal can act like a human. Despite that it was well written and compelling until the end which was somewhat disappointing. I'd still recommend it even if it had some shortcomings.