Island's end
Padma Venkatraman (Author)
A young girl must lead her tribe into the future on an island that time forgot...Uido is ecstatic when she's chosen to become the oko-jumu, or spiritual leader, of her island tribe. But as excited as she is to complete her training, what looms largest on Uido's mind are the strangers from a nearby island who have started visiting her island. The strangers tempt the tribe members with gifts, making them curious about modern life, and show little respect for nature or the spirits. When Uido's beloved little brother falls deathly ill, and the tribe's medicine doesn't work, her courage and beliefs are severely tested. If she journeys to the strangers' island for help, will she shake her tribe's belief in their old ways and thus destroy her old culture? Drawing on firsthand experience from her travels to the Andaman Islands, Padma Vekatraman was inspired to write this story after meeting with natives who overcame a natural disaster and preserved their unique way of life despite several threats to their survival. Uido's transformation from a young girl to a tribal leader will touch both yoru heart and mind. -- From dust jacket
Print Book, English, 2011
G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 2011