Fans of St. John's The White Giraffe (2007) need to fasten their seatbelts for this rip-roaring sequel. Martine's class sails the South African coast to view the Sardine Run. When a cyclone strikes, dolphins shepherd the shipwrecked kids to a mysterious deserted island. And that's only the beginning. Can Martine's secret, magical healing powers help rescue beached dolphins, ward off the evil threatening the island, and speed her longed-for reunion with her giraffe companion, Jemmy? The strong connections between humans and wildlife celebrated in Martine's first adventure will continue to engage readers here.

Marooned with some classmates during an oceanographic trip off Mozambique, Martine (The White Giraffe) practices survival skills and uses her magical gifts to communicate with and heal a pod of dolphins. She and laconic friend Ben also stop unscrupulous men who are harming the dolphins with sonar. Though overwritten, the story still delivers moments of genuine tension.

Six months after the action of last year's The White Giraffe , Martine has pretty much settled in with her grandmother at her South Africa game reserve. But events soon conspire to unseat her newfound ease: A multi-day school cruise will both take her away from Jemmy, her giraffe friend, and force her to swim, something she's deathly afraid of. Moreover, the cave paintings that eerily foretold her previous adventures now depict a lone swimmer surrounded by dolphins—and sharks. In short order, Martine, her friend Ben and some of her most poisonous antagonists from school find themselves marooned on a deserted island, cast overboard during a storm and miraculously rescued by dolphins. How will they survive? Why do the dolphins suddenly beach themselves? And who are the shady men whose boat prowls the offshore waters? As in the earlier book, the quick pace, the dynamics among the kids and the undeniable appeal of Martine's mystical attachment to animals keep the pages turning, regardless of plot contrivances. Animal-loving readers will enjoy this mild middle-grade thriller. (Fiction. 8-12)

Gr 4-7 Continuing the story begun in The White Giraffe (Dial, 2007), St. John throws 11-year-old Martine into another dangerous situation in which she must depend on her relationship with animals to survive. The child, recently orphaned and sent to live with her grandmother on a game reserve in South Africa, has had trouble adapting to her new school. She reluctantly embarks on a class trip to study nature at sea, and, before long, she and six of her classmates are tossed overboard during a storm. Rescued by dolphins, they survive shark-infested waters and are stranded on a deserted island. Five of the kids tormented Martine and her lone friend, Ben, in the first book, and they are no kinder here. But Ben, while mostly silent, has a lot of survival skills, and Martine has her powers of prophecy and healing, and the two of them prove to be self-sufficient and even content with their situation. As Ben teaches Martine how to find food, water, and shelter, he also guides her toward compassion as their desperate classmates begin to accept them. Not every plot point holds water, but this is an action-packed story with a strong environmental message and an admirable heroine. It brings the cultures of native and colonial South Africa together in the form of a young girl who is discovering that she is part of both. Talk this one up to your adventure buffs and animal lovers. Susan Oliver, Tampa-Hillsborough Public Library System, FL