Lost On Gibbon Island - Jess Butterworth

Twelve year old Lark isn't happy about missing her gymnastics competition in order to travel to Cambodia with her family so her mum can carry out research about disappearing gibbons for her job as an environmental journalist.  Never in her wildest dreams did Lark think that this trip would lead to her being stranded on a desert island with only a baby gibbon for company.  With no way of contacting the main land, can Lark find a way off the island before it's too late?

Lost On Gibbon Island is written entirely as a series of diary entries that Lark writes once she reaches the island.  Having taken a notebook in a plastic bag, she finds a felt pen on the beach of the island and so begins to detail her days as a way to help her process what's going on.  The first person viewpoint makes this a very personal book that will draw readers in.  Along with her days on the island, Lark intersperses the story of what has lead her to this situation and this is unveiled as the book progresses.  (Shout out to Rob Biddulph whose illustrations boarder each page beautifully).

Lark is a normal twelve year old, upset at being dragged away from her gymnastics competition at the expense of her mum's job again.  However, as the book progresses, you see her resilience kicking in.  As you would imagine, she experiences a full range of emotions and I am pleased that things are difficult for her: it would be all too easy in a middle grade book to have her find drinking water quickly but the reality would be different and I think readers will appreciate the grittier experience more.  She is afraid but calls upon things she can remember from home to help her. and just because things start to get a little easier for her, doesn't mean they remain that way and I felt that gave it a much more realistic feel.  I found it incredibly interesting to read the author's note at the end of the book where I discovered that Lost On Gibbon Island is based upon Jess's own experiences of being stranded on a desert island and I think this is definitely reflected in Lark's experiences.

Within the book, there are so many incredibly important messages quietly woven into the plot: the environmental messages about pollution and plastic pollution appear in the things that Lark finds to help her, things that have been washed up on the beach.  Also, the messages about animal exploitation and the plight of the gibbons; as well as the danger to investigative journalists (again, based on true stories).  This is a book that quietly shouts about some very serious issues in a way that will engage and interest readers.

I'm now going to steal a phrase from a fellow blogger, Paul Watson, 'Now for the teacher bit.'

This is a book that has so much potential in school.  The exploration of diary writing and first person perspective; survival techniques (how to find water, create fire, what food you could eat...); discussion of feelings and emotions at different points in the book; map exploration and children creating their own maps & islands (there's a map at the beginning of the book & I love a good book map!); creative writing based around the island; report writing about environmental issues; newspaper articles about Lark; studying the different animals in the environment... the possibilities are endless and Lost On Gibbon Island would make the most amazing book to study and explore in the classroom from Year 4 upwards.

Out now, Lost On Gibbon Island is an immersive adventure with a heroic main character and the most wonderful baby gibbon.  It's an adventure that will make you think, give you hope and leave you with a smile on your face.  I gobbled it up in under a day and I know that it's going to be a book in demand at school.