Cabin 102

[Belmont2500]

A low res version of the Cabin 102 cover.


In the past few days I have spent time away from this site because I was reading one of the best novels I've ever read it was titled "Cabin 102" and was written by Sherry Garland, I discovered it when I was browsing through the many books at my school's library, when I found it and read the prologue, I knew I had to read it and checked it out immedietly.

The story of Cabin 102 is told through the eyes of Dusty(who's real name is Russell) who almost drowned when he was five and since then has been afraid of water so to avoid swimming he makes up many excuses but they won't save him when his stepmother, Venessa, wins a family cruise through the Carribean Islands and Dusty is forced to go along, it seems like the worse days in the world for him,apart from being afraid of water, he has no books to read, the faucets and lights on the ship don't always work and his stepsisters, Jasmine and Jessica keep harrasing him but then one night Dusty hears what appears to be unusaul crying coming from the cabin next door - Cabin 102 when Dusty checks it out he meets Tahni, the ghost of a Taino indian girl who died in the 1500's (although Dusty never finds out she is a ghost until near the end).

Tahni is playful and,unlike Dusty, loves the water but her goal is to get back to the island where she grew up  so her spirit can rest in peace, by putting his concern for Tahni before his fear of water, he conquers his phobia and hopes to return Tahni's ghost to her home, a rather touching book and when it ended I cried as if I had just finished watching the original Land Before Time, and there was something in back of my mine saying "I want to read it again", its that good.

It turns out that Cabin 102 was a bit overlooked dispite being a beyond great book, if you search for it on the internet you'll only find a few sites that say anything about it, mostly Amazon, and Cabin 102 really deserves a film adaptation, luckily I might do fan film version of it, if I ever get the budget and proper casting, but still Cabin 102 is a book really worth reading.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

That sounds like a great book. I'm reminded of Island of the Blue Dolphins, a book I read in elementary school which was about Karana, a native girl, and her brother getting left behind on a now-abandoned island and having to survive. Tahni sounds like Karana if Karana ever left the island. Dusty reminds me of Mafatu, the main character of Call It Courage, another great book I read on my own time, about a hydrophobic boy, Mafatu, who has to sail into the ocean to prove to his tribe that he is worthy of his name, which means "Stout Heart."

I highly recommend both books, and you in particular Belmont would probably really enjoy them. They're the same reading level as Cabin 102 also.

[Belmont2500]

I've read Call It Courage years ago, it was a good book, but what I liked about Cabin 102  is at first glance it just seems like a story was about a cruise ship and teen angst but when Tahni comes in the story takes a supernatural turn but still manages to keep the innocence from the start of the book. I don't exactly remember if Call It Courage had the same twist,I'll have to read it again.