Rescue on Nim’s Island

Wendy Orr

Allen & Unwin, 2014

pbk., 168pp., RRP $A14.99

9781743316788

 

Nim lives with her scientist father Jack and an adventure writer Alex Rover on a remote tropical island kept almost secret from the rest of the world in order to protect its pristine beauty and its wildlife.  Her constant companions are a marine iguana she calls Fred and a sea lion called Selkie.  It’s an idyllic lifestyle which Nim wouldn’t swap for the world.  It’s a lifestyle many would like to have and because she has email and the Internet it does not get lonely.  In this episode Jack invites some scientists to the island to try to work out how algae can be converted into a planet-friendly fuel source but all is not well from the beginning.  While Nim does not shun the outside world, she prefers the peace and solitude of her island home knowing that the fewer people who know about it the more likely its heritage is to be preserved. Even though her friend Edmund returns, one of the couples has two children who are not used to the isolation of such an environment and who do not understand its uniqueness so there is friction from the start. And the scientists don’t seem to be what they purport to be so when Nim discovers an opalised fossil, all is not smooth sailing. Everyone is in grave danger and Nim has to make some tough choices to try to keep everyone safe..

We first met Nim when Nim’s Island was first published in 1999 and were reacquainted with her in 2007 in Nim at Sea, the stories being made into a movie starring Jodie Foster in 2008.  Now 15 years later Nim is back to delight us again, testament to the quality of the writing and the power of the story that Wendy Orr sets before us.  The adventurous Nim is a likeable character and many would like to swap places with her. The story moves along quickly and while the message about the need to value and protect the environment drives the series and is strong, it does not overpower the action and the plot.  

While this is a stand-alone book and it doesn’t take the reader too long to place the essential elements together, this is an ideal opportunity to introduce a new generation of readers to the series as a whole.  Despite the timespan between episodes it does not date and would be a refreshing and absorbing read for the child looking for something a little bit different.  Nim’s Island would be a great class read-aloud to support a sustainability theme and if students know there are others in the series there will be a queue.  An internet search for teaching notes will turn up several options.