The Cay
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The Cay, written by Theodore Taylor in the 1960's is about an eleven-year-old boy named Phillip Enright, who lives on the Dutch island of Curaçao during World War II. The story is based on a real incident.
Phillip's parents decide that he would be safer in the United States after German submarines are spotted nearby, so he is evacuated on a Dutch freighter. During the voyage, the freighter is torpedoed, and Phillip is knocked unconscious by the ship's boom while trying to escape the boat, but is then rescued by a black man named Timothy, who also picked up the cook's cat, Stew Cat. At first, Phillip seems unharmed, but the blow to his head causes his sight to fail, which forces him to depend on Timothy for his own survival. The two sail to a cay called Devil's Mouth, where they live for many months. During the stay on the cay, Phillip comes to realize that his prejudice against black people is wrong, and he becomes friends with Timothy. Timothy becomes sick with malaria, and the pair must deal with a hurricane that passes across the island. Near the end of the book, Timothy dies after the hurricane from lack of strength, leaving Phillip to fend for himself until his eventual rescue. This story is a true tale of survival.