Publication Date: 1940
Reading Level: Lexile Measure 830L, Scholastic Guided Reading Level X
Interest Level: Grades 6 - 8
Major Awards: 1941 Newbery Medal
Number of Pages: 117 pages
Approximate Word Count: 39,040 words
Audible Book Length: 1 hr and 57 mins
Book Themes: Courage, Overcoming Fear, Trying Hard to Succeed
Genre: legendary adventure
Setting: Polynesian Islands in the South Pacific (Hikueru Island)
Important Quote:
And the voice of the reef seemed pitched for his ears alone; it seemed to say: ‘You cheated me once, Mafatu, but someday, someday I will claim you!
First Line: IT HAPPENED many years ago, before the traders and missionaries first came into the South Seas, while the Polynesians were still great in numbers and
fierce of heart.
Point of View: limited third-person point of view
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