Scott O'DellThe Black Pearl: A Newbery Honor Award Winner

The Black Pearl is a story about a young man named Ramón Salazar, who is the son of a renowned pearl dealer in the town of La Paz, Mexico. Ramon sets out to prove himself by diving deep into a cavern where the infamous Manta Diablo lives, to take a monstrous black pearl. The story evolves when Ramon's father gives the pearl of heaven away to The Madonna, and then Ramon steals it to give it back to the Manta Diablo. The Sevillano, a strong pearl fisher who works with Salazar Sr., is the main antagonist of the story and an interesting, complex character who pushes Ramon into action and drives the story forward.Overall I loved reading The Black Pearl by Scott O'Dell. The pacing of the story is fast and exciting, and the characters are colorful and feel very realistic. The story contains so much conflict in so few pages, and I believe this is what makes the book a masterpiece. In a short 140 pages, some of which are full page drawings, the author paints a colorful setting, develops 3 main characters, and tells an exciting story full of action and mystery. O'Dell is perhaps better known for his book The Island of the Blue Dolphins, which is also good, but in my opinion The Black Pearl is superior story-telling.

I like this author.

This book is exciting after page three and is very descriptive. It tells the story of a boy who dreamed of being a pearler like his dad. When he turns 16, his dreams comes true but only to be crushed.

This book is a great book for people who love the supernatural, it full of detail and a amazing adventure. Though this book is sometimes hard to understand, its a very good book and I recommend it to Middle Schoolers and Adults around the globe.

Another approved reading list book for my great niece and nephew. They both read it and loved it.One of the best parts of having this book on the reading list is that there was a lot of school materials available on line...questions to ask the kids, games for them to play that tested their retention of the book.This was a great book when my niece read it as a 10 year old and now 20 years later, her children have read it and loved it! There is no higher review than that!

The book was one of the best books I’ve read in a long time the characters were good and the chapters were not long and it was intense

Got it as a gift and they liked it

Yes, you and your teen should read this. El manta diablo is quite memorable. It remains a fave.

Got this as a prize for coming first in some exam. I actually wanted a water gun. Anyway read the book in one sitting and loved it ever since.

Good in all respects.