Memorable Monday #13

Happy Monday! The purpose of memorable Monday is to showcase a book that you’ve read in the past and share how/why it has stuck with you.

This week I’m featuring:

The Cay
By: Theodore Taylor

Amazon | Goodreads

I read The Cay way back in the day when I was in elementary school. I can’t remember what grade I was in, but I remember the book really impacting me. While I admit that I grew up in a small town with a population that was almost entirely white, I did have friends that were not. I remember really being affected by this book while reading it because it introduced me to a world of prejudice I didn’t understand existed. I remember this being one of the very first books that really tugged at me emotionally. I know by the time I read this book I’d heard of slavery before, but in my child-mind I didn’t understand how racism would still exist. It made me angry to see someone treated so rudely when they were kind. It was interesting to see how the characters’ perceptions of each other really changed throughout the story though as well. I don’t know if schools still read this book today, but it’s definitely one I think people should read in their lifetime.

About the Book:
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.

Now it’s your turn!

Share the name of a book you read in the past and why it was so memorable to you in the comments below!

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