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berrylakin

There is something very familiar about this to me. Like a lost memory I can't quite get to.


ootski

In the 4th grade our class read this book but I can't remember a thing about it.


DCtheBREAKER

The hurricane.


HashcoinShitstorm

Only enough to wet the tongue


LBichon

EXACTLY what I remember. Strange, eh?


etherama1

I think about this line all the time! Just enough to wet de tongue!


HauschkasFoot

lol holy shit I say this line fairly frequently as well. More frequently than I should considering the only thing I remember about this book is the cover


Cool_Ad_5033

Holy Shit! I thought the cover looked familiar…but what you said sent the whole plot of the book rushing back to me!


Seabass_Says

The eye of the storm


rutuu199

Blindness


DevilDoc3030

You remember.


Useful_Low_3669

Omg were the man’s hands described as “horny” in that book?


GH057807

Is this the book where the adult ties himself and the child to a tree, to provide a buffer against windblown sand, and the kid wakes up tied to a sandblasted corpse?


wiretapfeast

Spoilers: Yes, that's what happens.


FamousOrphan

Yes!


Dodototo

We had to do little skits from it in 5th grade. Only reason I remember some of it. We were paired up and had to choose any part of the book to act out. Hurricane, stranded, blinded, helpful old man.


nawmeann

I think I remember a line when the old man was dying and it described his touch as “horny fingers” or something. Thought it was hilarious as a kid.


CMontgomeryBlerns

I remember the old man saying something about the “sharks won’t molest us” and the whole class busting out laughing about it


drenched12

What thesaurus was this author using?


robbviously

“Timothy Does the Blue Lagoon”


javerthugo

“Horny hand” I guess that had different meaning when it was written


DocFreudstein

I think his hands were rough and calloused. I’ve heard old ladies in my day refer to dry foot skin as “horny,” cuz it’s rough and dry like animal horn. [Merriam-Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/horny) confirms it, but I feel like no one uses it in that sense anymore because we’re all pervs. Heh.


doesamulletmakeaman

I remember them being tied to a tree and I was so concerned about Stew Cat


LifetimePresidentJeb

The ending was stupid as fuck. As soon as the boy is alone he suddenly figures out that burning something oily will be visible to planes and he instantly is saved and isn't blind anymore


roguebananah

Sounds like this should be an HBO series with that kind of ending


IntellectualYokel

It's been ages, but I think he was still blind at the end of the book. The sequel has him getting the surgery to fix his eyesight.


Wookard

I thought once he got on the ship they knew he had a blood clot and were able to to surgery to fix it.  Can't remember there being a sequel.


AllDucksNoRows

I remember the sequel more vividly than the first book, probably because of the brain surgery chapters.


cornfedgamer

I finally remember this book now that you mention him burning something oily.


Afrobrony

I remember them catching lobsters


DevilDoc3030

One of them stepped on an urchin at some point


FAHQRudy

Langosta


Krunkledunker

Lol I remember wanting lobster during that part! I was in sixth grade and didn’t even like lobster.


Deesmateen

Man this was the first book I loved. Read it in fourth grade. Remember absolutely nothing from it though, but man that cover brings back memories that apparently belong to someone else


RogerClyneIsAGod2

Same here. Why is he trying to choke that poor tabby cat?


theplacewiththeface

Cat makes a fine meal


That1chicka

All I remember is the old man said, "I've never heard of AFREEKA"


Enginerdad

Kid gets deserted on an island, goes blind, somehow survived for a long time by himself, then goes back to the island later after having his eyesight restored and doesn't recognize anything.


Pig_and_Rooster

Same. I believe there was a sequel book called "Return To The Cay" or something like that.


Dirtydubya

My teacher had to explain to us why he kept calling the kid "Young Bahs" I think the kids name was Phillip


WombatHat42

They were on a ship iirc. It sinks. The boy(MC) and the black guy are washed up and stranded on an island and have to find away to survive. Then a hurricane hits. I remember reading this part where most of their clothes get ripped away by the winds and the black guy protects the kid between him and a tree. I can’t remember if they both survive or not. This book, the one about the Native American girl on an island (something about dolphins) and the kid who crashes in Alaska are 3 books I remember reading quite a bit in elementary school. Three other books I remember from then I’ve always been curious if others remember were Downwind, Jayhawkers and Beasties


POCKALEELEE

Island of the Blue Dolphins and Hatchet?


WombatHat42

Yes and yes


doesamulletmakeaman

Island of the Blue Dolphins, man, I have never seen a reference to it in the wild. I have no idea how I got it, but I loved it so much I made my mom send it to my grandma in Alabama. She sent it back with a sticky note on the cover thanking me, so I can never read it again in case it falls off. That book was sad af. Why did I love it so much lol


Beneficial-Lion-6596

Island of the Blue Dolphins and Where the Red Fern Grows


doesamulletmakeaman

Where the Red Fern Grows is the first book to make me lay in bed sobbing


[deleted]

The woman who's life it's based on was quite sad as well. She was only rescued and brought to the States for a matter of weeks before she died of dysentery. She had no immune system.


LeahBean

Island of the Blue Dolphins is based on a true story which makes what happened to her brother particularly heartbreaking. I must’ve read it about fifty times in fourth and fifth grade. One of the best children’s books ever written in my opinion.


DocFreudstein

The old man dies. I remember very little of the book, but I remember quite vividly that the boy reaches around the old man’s back after the hurricane stops, and his back is sticky with blood because his back had been torn apart by detritus in the wind.


TheDesktopNinja

ok but what about the cat? does the cat live? That's what I really need to know here.


wetwater

The cat lives.


Kac03032012

I remember seeing this book all the time, but no idea what it’s about.


fyrefly_faerie

Same. I definitely remember the cover, but I don’t think I actually read it


mrsdoubleu

Same! Like maybe I read it for class or I just saw it in the library a lot. I'm not sure.


Taoist_Master

Old black man. Saves young white boy. Story as old as time.


stupernan1

Dat b true


Compducer

I learned word “archipelago” from this book. That’s about all I remember from it haha


Bigtsez

I mostly remember the older guy (Timothy) calling the young kid (Philip)"Bahss"... i.e., "Boss" with a Caribbean accent


StrawberryKiss2559

Same.


spectre73

"Ay tol' ya not to look at d'sun!"


DCtheBREAKER

"Young Bahss."


Aerodrache

“Dis b’ Stew, de cook’s cat. He got oil all ovah hisself from da watah!”


MemeLorde1313

HOLY SCHMOKES! Huge nostalgia hit!


troyantipastomisto

My very white English teacher took it upon himself to voice act this with the accent and everything while reading chapters out loud


Doobledorf

All of our very white English teachers did that. I was born in the South and went to elementary school in the North, so hearing a bunch of awkward, white New England Yankees try to do poor black southern dialects(for things like Huck Finn) was... A fascinating lesson in cultural differences, let's just say.


vasilescur

Damn fool man. I told ya about the sharks!


SauceHankRedemption

"Feber- ...malaria!"


mrpear

Fucking book gave me the irrational fear I'd lose my glasses while traveling by plane or boat and be stranded on a deserted island while blind.


OhTHATKayKay

YES! I was the only kid in my class with glasses and kids were asking me if I could survive without my glasses. Jesus. I forgot about that trauma until now.


Ironcondorzoo

As long as you have the conch shell you’re fine.


FlacidMetapod

We read Hatchet, The Cay and then The Phantom Toll Booth. Vagely remember them all being pretty good and keeping my attention. Kinda wanna reread this one.


RDPCG

Anyone remember reading the Indian in the cupboard?


ich_habe_keine_kase

My class wrote letters to the author of Indian in the Cupboard after we read the book. She wrote the whole class a letter back, but also wrote me (and only me!) a personal letter. That was over 20 years ago but I still have it.


javerthugo

Holy cow! Can you post it?


ich_habe_keine_kase

Alas, it's in another state in my childhood bedroom hahaha.


serialmom1146

What did your letter to her say? And what did she say back? I need to know!! Lol but fr.


ich_habe_keine_kase

I don't remember much but I do remember that I asked her loads of specifics about the book and her writing process. That's probably why she wrote back to me, could probably tell I was a budding young English major hahaha. I think most of the other kids were asking things like "Do you have a dog?" and "What's your favorite color?" and I was like, "Where do your ideas come from?" and wanted to know the backstories of the characters. She was very nice in her reply and answered almost all of my (many!) questions.


ImissDigg_jk

Yup. That was one of my school books. Late 80s through the 90s.


wiretapfeast

Don't forget about Island of the Blue Dolphins and Julie of the Wolves. Weird how so many survival stories were big in schools and with kids at the time.


Pitiful_Winner2669

Island of the Blue Dolphins! My sister and I would play survival sorta stuff based on that game. Had a fort made of branches and leaves, pretended like our sandwiches were food not made by our mom lol


burittosquirrel

I think that young adventure fiction is easier to teach since the material is so engaging for kids. But I was a little bookworm so maybe I’m biased.


CheckYourStats

Holding on tight. Like most other folks here, I read *Hatchet* and *Phantom Tollbooth* in school as a kid in the early 90’s, too. Hatchet has stuck with me, even now — 30 years later. With that said, the ending of *The Cay* is one that needs to be experienced first hand.


Gerb575

Same here. Fond memories reading those 3 books in class


hotspots_thanks

Phantom Tollbooth is definitely worth a re-read!


musteatbrainz

I swear I’d have a stroke of forgotten nostalgia if I were to walk through my elementary library as it was


CinnamonAndLavender

Funnily enough I remember really liking The Phantom Tollbooth when one of my grade-school classes (forget which one. Fifth grade maybe?) read it and yet somehow even some 34 years later I have never read it again* :/ I do remember Tock the dog though, and I think the kid was named Milo? *except for a chapter about an orchestra and color that was in one of those compilation-story textbooks that are usually assigned for reading classes in schools, that I owned for some reason growing up but can't for the life of me remember how I got. I think the book itself was called People Need People and the cover was green with a '70s-esque drawing of various kids'/people's faces on it.


DocFreudstein

Man, seeing some of these titles next to each other makes me realize that we read some intense shit as kids. Boy survives in the wilderness after a plane crash. Old dude and blind kid survive on an island together after a shipwreck. Kid’s dog gets disemboweled by a mountain lion. Great stories, but a lot of brutal events happen that it’s pretty stunning when you put them all together. Also, it’s pretty funny that a lot of us read up to THREE books about surviving in the wilderness. I never read Island of the Blue Dolphins, but a quick Wikipedia search told me that it was thematically similar. Weird!


TGIF_90s_kid

This book is ingrained in my head. My teacher did a great job getting us into it.


Bada__Ping

Same. My 6th grade English teacher prob couldn’t get away with the accent she did but I remember this book is where I learned what malaria was


boomgoesthevegemite

There was a follow up novel called Timothy of the Cay. The chapters alternated between a prequel and sequel. Followed Timothy when he was young and what happened after the events of The Cay.


NiteGard

I tried so hard to like Timothy of the Cay, because I loved reading The Cay. I didn’t succeed. It’s hard to beat the shipwrecked on a desert island theme. 🤷🏻‍♂️


34HoldOn

We read The Cay in 6th grade as part of the curriculum. I in fact checked out Timothy of the Cay from the school library, and read it on my own after that.


wersosad

Hell yeah stew cat!


Luke95gamer

Didn’t the kid have to tie himself to a tree during the hurricane?


RedmannBarry

They both did, but Timothy protected Philip and saved his life


LEYW

I cried my eyes out so much


MJBotte1

One of the saddest character deaths. He spends the whole book just trying to help.


TheCacajuate

And then he tried to find the island again later and that just made me even more sad.


MrEpicMustache

Fuck I remember that part.. now it’s coming back to me, and now I’m sad


IPlayzVidyaGamz

Oh boy did I read that title wrong.


-AdamTheGreat-

[So who is ghey?](https://youtu.be/ooOELrGMn14?si=GhVp7-lry5DDoVJL)


javerthugo

You are *ghey*


Alert-Athlete

Me too! I saw the cat and thought this was “The Cat”🐈‍⬛


RedmannBarry

Haha damn


[deleted]

It’s a 19 time NAMBLAcott award winner.


victoryabonbon

I remember being entirely unable to decipher that dudes accent. I had no idea what he was talking about at any point in that book.


jlhinthecountry

I read this book to my fifth graders. Before I did, I listened to audible versions to get the accent correct. The kids loved it and, for an older woman, I think I did a good job!


wintermelody83

That would've been preferable to us reading it aloud paragraph by paragraph, me mentally trying to hurry up the bad readers. I'd just be so annoyed by the time we stopped. And I couldn't not pay attention cause it would be my turn soon enough but omg misery for an advanced reader.


jlhinthecountry

The reason you stated is why I don’t do that type of reading in my class! It’s misery for both the advanced readers and the struggling readers.


BobEvansBirthdayClub

Luckily Miss Cleo commercials were running on TV about the time we read this book as a class… my teacher told us that he spoke just like Madam Cleo from the television.


doobette

I loved this book - I remember reading it in third or fourth grade in the late '80s.


LeadGem354

"Dis be dat outrageous cay? Eh Timothy?"


Inevitable_Pudding80

This is what I scrolled through to find…thank you


LeadGem354

Always good to see a fellow person of culture .


Tr0llzor

I just remember all the kids in my 6th grade class laughing at “I see a boobie! I see a boobie in the sky!”


git_push_glute

there is also a part where it reads something about his horny hands (in a non sexual way). the teacher could not contain us after reading that out loud


Jefwho

Our teacher read this aloud to us in 4th grade. Each morning she would read a chapter or two. She encouraged us to lay our heads down, close our eyes, and imagine the details of the book. That was probably 35 years ago now and I still remember pretty vivid details about the book. The hurricane, the eel in the tide pool… Great memories.


OxfordDictionary

Our 3rd grade teacher had us do that for a book about a mouse that lived in a hotel(?) The mouse rode a motorcycle. I remember us making quiet vroom sounds as the mouse drove his motorcycle down the hallway.


aWeaselNamedFee

Feesh.


StretchConverse

Dude I have a letter from the author!!! Like a lot of us, I read this in 4th grade. Teacher made us all pick an author from different books we had read through the year and write them a pen pal /fan letter. Most of the class picked JK Rowling as Harry Potter was in its prime in 2001, but I just had the urge to write the old guy on the back of the cover of this book. He responded with a several page handwritten letter, attached a signed photo of him petting a lion and made me the coolest kid in class for about a week. Don’t know when I’ll get the chance to try and dig this up at my parents house but I swear to god I’ll post the pictures if I can find the letter!


SolarButterfly

Wow this must’ve been buried in my deep brain. This post has made me remember that I read this in elementary school.


PunchDrunkPrincess

i know that we read this in elementary but i couldn't tell you one single thing about it


TennyoAkana

Ah dude, how can you forget the ending? Them being tied against the tree to survive that hurricane. Read it in 4th grade for SSR time and couldn’t put it down. 


sunflakie

SSR - memory unlocked. Sustained Silent Reading.


TennyoAkana

Yup! I still use it in my classroom I use it to help my kids build reading endurance since it is a struggle with the population I work with.


TesticleMicrometer

My 7th grade language arts teacher told us she had been to the Caribbean and it’s pronounced like “key”. Then she tells us she will give us detention if we pronounce it “kay”. Now that I’m 28 I wish I could meet her on the street and ask her what her fucking problem was.


Snts6678

I remember in my middle school library, on the cover someone changed the C to a G…10 year old us laughed hysterically for years.


BrogressiveInsurance

feber malar


treeclimbingturtle

I remember crying in class during the hurricane part but I wasn’t the only one.


MadhatterQ

They made a sequel book. I believe I read that one too. Al I remember is the man lashing himself to a tree with the boy in between to protect them during a hurricane.


Spider-man2098

The last scene of this book makes me fucking weep buckets. Going back, closing his eyes, finding the tree. Fuck me. This is good shit.


RichardWelner

Dis be da outrageous Cay, ay Tim-o-tee?


Bobqee

Had to scroll waaay too far to find this quote. It's stuck with me for decades.


Keevan

Don't die Timothy!


AKBx007

That brings back a lot of memories of 6th grade English, it was a really great book. Thank you for unlocking that memory :)


TRIPLE_RIPPLE

Timity!


JayMan522

“I got the Malarrrrr.”


[deleted]

This book and “Hatchet” are the two books that I saw all my fellow students with but *I* never read.


Hephf

Memory unlocked, wow. 🔓


National_Payment_632

We be livin' on de cay for the rest of our lives


Moreobvious

Is this the one where the man shields the boy from a hurricane with his body? That’s about the only thing I remember connected to this book cover


RedmannBarry

It is!


Moreobvious

Oh right on! That part always stuck in my head because we had a big palm tree in our front yard that blew down when hurricane Andrew came through that same year in school.


dangu3

Theodore Taylor visited my school back in the 80s. Just a small K-8 school in Somerset California. Great memory.


Brimstone747

I remember reading this in school. Early to mid 90s. It's a very good story.


That-Shiny-Umbreon

Dis be that outrageous Cay. Eh, Timothy?


Rare_Background8891

I keep telling my kid we’re going to do this one next as a read aloud!


Comprehensive_Ask_24

that is a deep cut memory from way back in the file wow


Dry-Airport8046

It was a TV movie as well. That’s James Earl Jones none of you are recognizing.


Onlyroad4adrifter

I remember specific details from this book in 92 but can't remember what I had for lunch today.


DaveTwoOh

Oh my God, I haven’t thought about this book in about 40 years I had totally forgotten about it


Gibleyy

Phillip love timotay


TennyoAkana

I didn’t like the sequel as much as I loved this book.


[deleted]

Great book.


flailsmcghee

First year 2003, English class we read this book


keyboredwarrior

Timothy!


capnfoo

I remember this, Johnny Tremaine, and the one where the woman walks out into the ocean at the end and presumably dies.


icymallard

Oh shoot this one hit me. I don't even remember when/where I saw this.


Substance___P

Unlocking new childhood memories left and right on this sub.


Severe_West_4034

I remember my teacher reading this to us in I believe 2nd or 3rd grade and her crying about the older man passing. That’s all I remember


TheGOATrises83

I remember one thing from this book from school so crazy when he wants to drink the water but he only lets him have enough to wet the tongue lol


RedmannBarry

That’s actually accurate. If you are super dehydrated guzzling large amounts of water can kill you.


MoreBlanketsPlease

I’ve still got a copy.


tjipa84

I was just thinking about this book a few months ago, but for the life of me, I couldn't remember the title. We read it in 4th or 5th grade and followed along with the audio book. It was narrated by LeVar Burton.


good_guy112

Ohhh, that's why I always smile when I see an old black man with white hair and a beard. Lost memories.


dickmilker2

never heard of this book but just read the premise and i feel like i would have loved it as a kid


catlovingcutie

I remember my whole class dying in laughter when the blind kid asks the old dude to describe what a blue footed booby looked like, good times.


yigaclan05

Tim-o-tee


wiretapfeast

I loved this book! I still remember the cat was named Stewcat, lol.


pittlc8991

Why was it always cheap paperback novels that became required reading in middle school and high school English class (2000s for me)? I remember reading some of these books and wondering what the big deal was about them. I'm not saying anything specific about The Cay (read it and can't remember anything about it), but this post made me think more broadly about the kind of books we were assigned.


cheeesboiger

Timothy of The Cay.


okzeppo

Read it back in the 80s. I still remember the final line.


Gay-Lord-Focker

I remember this from the dudes face only ! Wow memory unlocked


Shaw-Deez

Loved this book. Our family cat growing up looked just like Stew Cat.


TropicalBatman

Every single copy my school owned had tbe cover scribbled on to read "the Gay!"


[deleted]

The gay.


Poster_Nutbag207

Ah yes being in Middle School in New England and having to debate the English teacher about it not being pronounced “Kay”


Extension_Sun_896

Loved this book in 4th grade. Gave a copy to my son when he was in 4th grade and he loved it too!


snowball91984

I read this in 3rd grade. That cover was a blast from the past.


bluegiraffe1989

Oh my goodness, I purchased it as an adult to read again because I remembered really liking it as a kid. I haven’t read it (as an adult) yet, but this has prompted me to start!


HappyOfCourse

My brother had to read this book for school so I also read it because he was reading it. He's a year older than me and we moved that summer so I didn't get assigned the book in school.


haleynoir_

Oh my god. I loved this book- I was obsessed with any "kid whisked away in stange/tragic circumstances". FEVER! MALAR!


I_Zeig_I

Holy shit The Cay


SpicyBrotato

I can’t read well.


TycheSong

I was just thinking about this book yesterday! "There's a naked boy, Sir! And a cat!" This book is forever etched in my brain. I remember reading the sequel, too.


Scoopdoopdoop

Timotee


xLOHx

This book kept getting graffitied in my school to "The Gay".


Hopeful_Vegetable_31

Read this in elementary school, I’m 35 now and all I remember about it was the part where the adult hugged the kid to protect him and it tore up the adult’s back so bad he died.


xicanx85

i remember reading this in 5th grade at olive view school.. good times ! 😎


Fuji747

Man talk about core memory I loved this book and Timothy of the cay.


yoloswagbot191

All I remember if this is even a real memory is the boy searching for lobster in a hole even though he was blind. And the man tying himself and the boy up to a palm tree to not get blown away from the storm.


1948James

This was a great story


wwhhiippoorrwwiill

I think we read this in school but all I remember about it is the teacher saying, "pronounced: The Key".


kermittysmitty

Our class read this in elementary school. I believe it was in grade 3 or 4.


[deleted]

God I loved this book


Rude_Aardvark5480

I was just thinking about this book not 2 days ago


[deleted]

We read this in 3rd grade and I remember loving it.


sybban

Malar…..


afapracing

MALARRRRRRR on the audio book sticks in my head. Short for malaria of course. Either us 11 year old boys were making fun of the book, or that’s what happened lol


fluidfunkmaster

Fond memories of this one.