The Cay
Theodore Taylor (1969)
“Stranded on a tiny island with a man he's been taught to fear, a blind boy must choose between his prejudice and his survival.”
At a Glance
When eleven-year-old Phillip's ship is torpedoed during World War II, he washes up on a tiny Caribbean cay with only Timothy — an elderly Black West Indian sailor — for company. Blinded by the disaster, Phillip must overcome the racism his sheltered upbringing instilled in him to survive. Timothy teaches Phillip everything he needs to live on the island, and the two develop a profound friendship before a hurricane claims Timothy's life. When rescuers finally find Phillip, he carries Timothy's lessons — and a transformed understanding of the world — home with him.
Read full summary →Why This Book Matters
Won the Jane Addams Children's Book Award in 1970, given to books that promote peace and social justice. Simultaneously targeted by a sustained critical campaign led by African American scholars and the Council on Interracial Books for Children, who argued that the novel's portrayal of Timothy perpetuated the 'noble Black servant who dies for white protagonist' trope. Taylor later wrote a prequel, Timothy of the Cay (1993), partly in response — telling Timothy's full story from his own perspective. The controversy made The Cay one of the first widely-read children's books to be seriously interrogated for racial dynamics, regardless of the author's intentions.
Diction Profile
Conversational and direct — a child's voice without condescension, accessible to middle-grade readers while carrying adult themes
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