The Cay

The Cay

By Theodore Taylor

53 ratings 71 reviews 84 followers
Interest LevelReading LevelReading A-ZATOSWord Count
Grades 4 - 8Grades 4 - 8V5.326145
For fans of Hatchet and Island of the Blue Dolphins comes Theodore Taylor’s classic bestseller and Lewis Carroll Shelf Award winner, The Cay.
   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.

“Mr. Taylor has provided an exciting story…The idea that all humanity would benefit from this special form of color blindness permeates the whole book…The result is a story with a high ethical purpose but no sermon.”—New York Times Book Review
 
“A taut tightly compressed story of endurance and revelation…At once barbed and tender, tense and fragile—as Timothy would say, ‘outrageous good.’”— Kirkus Reviews
 
* “Fully realized setting…artful, unobtrusive use of dialect…the representation of a hauntingly deep love, the poignancy of which is rarely achieved in children’s literature.”—School Library Journal, Starred
 
“Starkly dramatic, believable and compelling.”— Saturday Review
 
“A tense and moving experience in reading.”— Publishers Weekly
 
“Eloquently underscores the intrinsic brotherhood of man.”— Booklist
 
"This is one of the best survival stories since Robinson Crusoe."— The Washington Star

· A New York Times Best Book of the Year
· A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
· A Horn Book Honor Book
· An American Library Association Notable Book
· A Publishers Weekly Children’s Book to Remember
· A Child Study Association’s Pick of Children’s Books of the Year
· Jane Addams Book Award
· Lewis Carroll Shelf Award
· Commonwealth Club of California: Literature Award
· Southern California Council on Literature for Children and Young People Award
· Woodward School Annual Book Award
· Friends of the Library Award, University of California at Irvine
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
ISBN-13: 9780385079068
ISBN-10: 0385079060
Published on 12/17/1987
Binding: Hardcover
Number of pages: 160

Book Reviews (68)

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kenny kenny

the book is really good and can be sad at time 😭😭😭but it was fun to read so i highly recomend his book and good review btw

Jimmy Jimmy

I have not read this book how is it?

Ben Ben

What's the moms name?

em7239 em7239

read this at school

I read this book. It is ok.

OK!? IT'S ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS I'VE EVER READ!!!

this book remind you of something, H.L.C.S. 6th graders you should know this

I loved this book! I had to read it for Battle of the Books, and it was one of my favorite battle book. It was so good, I finished it in 30 minutes flat without stopping!

This book is really good. I liked it because Phillip overcame a lot of racism, and ended up loving Timothy, who he had earlier called an "ugly black man." It was really interesting too. I would say that it probably could have been a bit longer though.

This is a really great book for ages 9-13.

This was a sad and touching book. War comes to the peaceful island Philip lives on, and his mother takes him away. But little did anyone know the boat would be a target for the enemy. Philip's head was cracked by a piece of metal falling on him. A man luckily found Philip struggling in the water, and took him onto his raft as well as a cat named cook. one day when Philip woke up, he found himself blind. Timothy, the man who saved him, told him it was because of his head injury, and that he might not be blind forever. They eventually land on an island and without Timothy, Philip would never have survived. I will not write anymore, so if you want to find out what happened, read the book!

BTW, The cats name is Stew Cat, and is the cooks cat. Five Stars!

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