"I disappeared on the night before my twelfth birthday. Only now can I at last tell the whole extraordinary story, the true story."

Kensuke’s Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo is an exciting, heartfelt survival adventure about Michael, a boy who is swept overboard from his family’s sailboat and washes up alone on a remote island. As he learns to find food, build shelter, and cope with the fear of being stranded, Michael discovers he is not the island’s only inhabitant: Kensuke, a mysterious older Japanese man, has been living there in isolation for years. Though they begin as wary strangers, the two form an unlikely friendship that teaches Michael about courage, grief, loyalty, and the importance of respecting both people and nature.