The Island Keeper by Harry Mazer

First published: 1981

Subjects: Coming-of-age, death, emotions, family, and nature

Type of work: Novel

Type of plot: Adventure tale, domestic realism, and moral tale

Time of work: The early 1980’s

Recommended Ages: 13-18

Locale: Duck Island, Canada

Principal Characters:

• Cleo Murphy, a teenager lacking in self-confidence who becomes a runaway
• Mr. Murphy, Cleo’s father
• Mrs. Murphy, Cleo’s grandmother
• Jam, Cleo’s sister, recently killed in an accident
• Glen, a clerk in an outdoor store in Canada
• Frank Garrity, the mainland caretaker responsible for island surveillance

Form and Content

The Island Keeper is a study in physical and personal survival. Cleo learns through her experiences as a runaway that her problems, both perceived and real, can be understood and solved only by her; the behavior of others cannot be controlled. The adventure is experienced entirely from Cleo’s point of view, with past events emerging through imaginary scenes and dialogue with family members. Reader interest is captured on the first page: As she boards an airplane, Cleo is reminded that “time heals all wounds,” even those of “recent tragic events.” Readers also learn that Cleo is unhappy with herself; she has poured perfume all over her body and hates the way that she smells. In addition, “She tried to pretend she wasn’t fat and even if she was it didn’t matter.”

Sixteen-year-old Cleo Murphy comes from a wealthy family, but it is also a family confronted with tragedy and distanced by a failure to communicate effectively. The present family consists of Cleo, her seemingly uncaring father, and her highly critical grandmother. Her mother was killed in a car crash, and her beloved younger sister, Jam, has recently died in a boating accident.

Unable to relate to her family and unwilling to spend the summer at camp, Cleo runs away to a Canadian island, owned by her father, where she and her sister spent happy times. Armed only with some cash and without a plan, Cleo buys camping equipment and food supplies, steals a canoe from the island caretaker, and heads for the island and its furnished cabin. Upon her arrival at the cabin site, however, Cleo finds only its charred remains. She takes shelter in a cave and becomes the “island keeper” of the title. Webster’s Dictionary defines “island” as “something isolated or having no communication” and “keeper” as “a person who guards and watches.” After animals steal her food supply, Cleo survives in the wilderness by eating berries, greens, and fish. She plans to stay for the summer, and then through the fall. When she realizes that she can fend for herself and when her physical condition and self-confidence have improved, she is ready to return to the mainland and home. Early winter storms smash her canoe, however, and she is marooned without adequate food or clothing. An attempt to build a raft from logs ends in failure. Her existence now becomes not only a struggle for survival—for food, shelter, and clothing but also a battle against the forces of nature—bitter cold and snow.

Cleo learns to kill, clean, and cook animals in order to have food and warm clothing. Her destiny is her own, and she becomes a person of action instead of reaction. As the icy winter sets in and Cleo faces death, she fashions simple tools and creates a shelter. Through coping with her environment, she emerges a different person. Cleo comes to the realization that she has caused her own problems and predicament and that the solutions are within herself. Her only hope for escape is to wait for the lake to freeze over and walk back to the mainland over the frozen water.

Critical Context

Harry Mazer is a major contributor to young adult literature and the creator of realistic and memorable characters. Although his books were sometimes considered controversial at the time of their publication because of subject matter and language, they are popular with teenagers and are valued and used by both teachers and librarians. Books dealing with such issues as survival, belonging, self-esteem, maturity, and death serve as useful vehicles for classroom discussion. In addition, the endings to his novels are often open and answers are not always provided, offering more avenues for discussion.

The Island Keeper is a realistic novel that features one of the few female protagonists in Mazer’s fiction. The story has much in common with Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe (1719), the story of a man alone on a desert island; Mazer has cited it as one of his favorite books. His beliefs that one cannot run away from problems and that survival must rely on self-sufficiency are also evident in Snowbound (1973), a novel that deals with wealthy and unprepared runaway teenagers who survive a snowstorm and return home with fresh insight. Mazer continued his examination of death and its effect on grieving teenagers in When the Phone Rang (1985). Often, there is no happy ending in Mazer’s novels, a departure from the upbeat endings prevalent in young adult novels published during the 1970’s and 1980’s.

Mazer is the recipient of numerous awards and honors from associations of both teachers and librarians. His work has been appreciated and enjoyed by teenage readers, literary critics, and peers. In 1985, The Island Keeper was an Arizona Young Reader’s Award nominee. A majority of Mazer’s books, including Snowbound and When the Phone Rang, have been listed as the American Library Association’s Best Books of the Year for Young Adults. All feature characters who must solve problems on their own as they walk the path to maturity.