Island of the Blue Dolphins

Wild dogs have roamed the island for as long as Karana can remember, but the pack grew larger and fiercer after the battle with the Aleuts killed many dogs’ owners and the animals turned feral. Karana knows the pack’s yellow-eyed leader was once owned by the Aleuts because his size and coloration differ from the other dogs. She sets a fire in the mouth of the pack’s cave to smoke them out and shoots the leader in the chest with an arrow when he emerges. She tries to track the wounded dog, but he eludes her.

Three days later, Karana picks up the leader’s trail again and draws her bow to finish him off. For a reason unknown even to her, she decides to spare the dog’s life. She carries him to her house and tends to his wound, and he slowly regains his strength. Still, Karana does not trust the dog and sleeps on the rock atop the headland where he cannot reach her. On the fourth day, Karana returns early from fishing and experiences a “strange feeling” when she does not see the dog waiting for her (93). Calling for the dog, she runs to the house, where she finds him stirring from a nap and wagging his tail at her.