The island where the girl Won-a-pa-lei lives looks like a dolphin lying on its side. Since her tribe left her here after an attack by foreign hunters, Won-a-pa-lei has been the only inhabitant of this patch of earth in the middle of the Pacific. Completely on her own, she builds a hut, hunts for food, and manages to make the island her home. But the struggle for survival is tough: storm surges, earthquakes, and attacks from wild animals challenge her every day. Then, many years later, a ship suddenly anchors... Exciting and with great empathy, Scott O'Dell portrays the survival struggle of the female counterpart to Robinson Crusoe. Awarded the German Youth Literature Prize.