Scar Island

• Genre: Fiction; middle grade action/adventure
• Originally Published: 2017
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 610L; grades 5-8
• Structure/Length: 30 chapters; approx. 256 pages; approx. 6 hours, 42 minutes on audio
• Protagonist and Central Conflict: Twelve-year-old Jonathan Grisby joins a group of troubled boys at a crumbling reformatory school on a remote island. After an accident kills all the adults, the boys must figure out how to govern themselves, and Jonathan must confront the painful event that sent him to the school in the first place.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Bullying

Dan Gemeinhart, Author

• Bio: Born in 1978 in Frankfurt, Germany; moved many times during his childhood because his father was in the military; studied history at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington; taught in Egypt with his wife before settling in Wenatchee, Washington; worked as an elementary school teacher and librarian for 13 years before turning to write full-time; enjoys camping and baking bread
• Other Works: The Honest Truth (2015); Good Dog (2018); The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise (2019); The Midnight Children (2022)
• Awards: New York Times Editors’ Choice selection

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:

• Authoritarianism
• Power Struggle
• Redemption

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:

• Gain an understanding of the historical and social contexts regarding authoritarianism, which informs Jonathan’s character motivations and development throughout Scar Island.