By: Theodore Taylor Publisher: Laurel Leaf Average Rating: Binding: Mass Market Paperback Label: Laurel Leaf Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 144 Publication Date: April 08, 2003 Reading Level: Ages 9-12 Release Date: April 08, 2003
Product Description: Phillip is excited when the Germans invade the small island of Curaçao. War has always been a game to him, and he’s eager to glimpse it firsthand–until the freighter he and his mother are traveling to the United States on is torpedoed.
When Phillip comes to, he is on a small raft in the middle of the sea. Besides Stew Cat, his only companion is an old West Indian, Timothy. Phillip remembers his mother’s warning about black people: “They are different, and they live differently.”
But by the time the castaways arrive on a small island, Phillip’s head injury has made him blind and dependent on Timothy.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
Amazon.com Review: This award-winning novel remains a powerful classic of prejudice, love, and survival. In 1942, 11-year-old Phillip Enright lives with his parents on the Dutch island of Curaçao, but when the war moves too close for comfort, his mother decides to travel with him back to the safety of Virginia. When their boat is torpedoed, however, Phillip is blinded and finds himself adrift on a life raft with an old black man and a cat. They eventually land on a deserted island. Phillip is suspicious of "the large Negro," but soon grows to trust--and ultimately love--the patient and generous Timothy. Dedicated to "Dr. King's Dream," The Cay has a clear message that friendship is colorblind; it is also a terrific adventure story of a young, newly blinded man learning to survive on an uninhabited island. (Ages 12 and older) --Richard Farr
Good boy's book about race and respect This short novel for boys tells how a white American boy becomes marooned with an old West Indian black man on a tiny island during World War II. It's simple, direct, often exciting, truthful, and well-observed. Along with the story of this archetypal relationship (which is much like that between Huckleberry Finn and Jim) it tells a good deal about the fundamentals of life on a Caribbean reef island (the "cay") and about the direct experience of a hurricane. This is a solid, serious, engaging and accessible book that rightfully been in print since 1969. Take Me With You When You Go
amazing book this is a wonderful book very intense and emotional which makes it even more intresting this book is my favirote all should enjoy and read this!!! Wonderful life lesson taught!!!! 2 thumbs up!!
I was forced to read it!!! Oh my God! This book was so boring. I would have rather watched grass grow. The characters were not likable at all. I found myself cheering when Timothy died. There are many dessciptions of Phillip clutched to Timothy's naked body. So many of these referances that my friends and I started calling it "The Gay". The racial thing wasn't that big a deal. Like OMG!! Phillip dosen't like black people, now he does! I'm shaking from the experiance. DON'T READ IT.
PCE Student Review My favorite book is The Cay. The author is Theodore Taylor. The reason why I like this book is because it's all about adventure, and you never know what will happen next. My favorite part is when Phillip gets hit in the head, and when he looks at the sun too long, and he realizes he is blind. The author wrote very good details about what happened to Phillip and Timothy on the cay. I would recommend The Cay to anyone who likes adventure. When I read The Cay I never wanted to stop reading it. It has so many adventures, and things in it. You will never want to stop reading it too.
PCE Student Review I like the book The Cay because it is adventure. The book is about a boy named Phillip that goes on a ship with his family and then the ship gets sunk. The next thing he knows is that he is on a rubber raft with a African American man named Timothy. He goes on an island and Timothy dies by a hurricane. But Phillip survives because Timothy risked his life to save Phillips life. Phillip survived on the cay by fishing with the poles that Timothy made for him before he died. Later on he heard a airplane and then set a fire to get the planes attention. Then he put sea grapes in the fire that started smoke and later he was rescued by a ship. I recommend this book for children that are 9 or older. And that is why I like this book because it is a adventure.