The Black Pearl

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Title: The Black Pearl
Series: ----------
Author: Scott O'Dell
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: MG Historical Fiction
Pages: 96
Format: Paperback Edition

Synopsis:

A young man, Ramon Salazar, recently turned 16 is made a partner in his father's pearl business. He learns to grade and buy and sell the pearls the small fleet his father owns brings in each trip. However, what he really wants is to go diving with the fleet. His father allows him to come out with show more the fleet but only as a handler, not a diver.

The best pearl diver in the fleet is jealous of the opportunities that Ramon has and constantly needles him about not being a diver. This “Sevillano” claims to come from Spain and spins stories of all the exploits he has done. Eventually, it gets to Ramon and when the fleet makes a week long trip, he heads out to an Indian diver and begs him to teach him. Ramon learns how to be a diver and is shown a cave where Manta Diablo supposedly lives. The Indian tells him to not dive in the cave, as Manta Diablo will come after anyone who takes something from him.

Ramon can't resist the lure and gets a huge clam which gives up a huge perfect “black” pearl. The Indian warns him that he is now cursed by Manta Diablo. Ramon heads home and gives the pearl to his father to show that he is a great diver, and to get back at the Sevillano for all his jibes. The father haggles with the local merchants and in a fit of pique at their stinginess, gives the pearl to the local Roman Catholic Church.

The next week the fleet is destroyed by a huge storm and only the Sevillano survives. This convinces Ramon that the pearl is indeed cursed and he steals it back from the church to take back to Manta Diablo's cave. The Sevillano catches him and forces him to go to Mexico City where they can sell it for a huge fortune.

On their way, they are overtaken by a huge manta ray. After several incidents, the Sevillano harpoons the manta and eventually jumps on it to knife it to death. A rope wraps around him and he and the manta plunge into the depths never to be seen again. Ramon rows back to his village, returns the pearl to the church and realizes that he has grown up.

My Thoughts:

I had read and bought this back in elementary school at a book fair I believe. I enjoyed it a lot as a kid so I was kind of hesitant to dive into again and potentially ruin it. Kind of like how I got fed up with Lucky Starr by the end of the series. Some childrens books just aren't meant for adults. However, since it was only 96 pages I figured I could pitch on in and rip through it at lunch times. Which is what I did.

What a great book!

This is the kind of adventure story that can capture the imagination of a young boy. O'Dell knows how to write for a youthful audience without churning out simplistic slop. Ramon deals with some huge issues and O'Dell gently guides the reader along that journey and makes a youngster think about what might change in their life and how would they respond? I love, Love, LOVE the fact that at no point is Ramon an angst-ridden whiny baby. O'Dell doesn't buy into the lie that young people have to be coddled and that anything “tough” will destroy them. He shows that THROUGH adversity is how a man is forged. Phrack, it is refreshing to see that in a middle grade book.

Keeping in mind the target audience, I loved this story. O'Dell writes a character that inspires the reader instead of pandering to them. It is no wonder that O'Dell won so many awards and honorable mentions back in his heyday.

First 5star review of the year. While probably not a real contender for best book of the year, I think that a 96 page story about a 16 year old young man that can inspire a 40 year old like this deserves some attention. Ramon's quiet fortitude and steady action is what is needed in more books today.

★★★★★ show less

At the age of sixteen, Ramon Salazar is ready to enter into the pearl business. His father starts him off learning the books and weighing the pearls, but what Ramon really wants to do is dive. He dreams of finding a large one, the Pearl of Heaven. But lurking in the background is the Manta Diablo, a figure of nightmares that mothers warn their children about and one who an older Ramon narrating the story tells us only he has seen and lived to tell the tale.

I have not been a huge fan of the other books I've read by Scott O'Dell, but I gave this one a try because it was a Newbery Honor and also very short. The writing is very evocative and atmospheric, but none of the characters really captured my interest and I had a really hard time show more with a manta ray as the big bad buy. I might have liked it better as a child reading an adventure story, as I liked the ending better than others of his that just seemed to cut off suddenly. show less

A young teen struggles to prove himself to his father and the local bully in his father's employ by finding a rare pearl that belongs to a giant stingray. One of my favorite books by O'Dell, who handles the character development, particularly the relationships among the characters, with tremendous accuracy and skill. I'm afraid the length (it is a short novella) and relative lack of objectionable elements cause teachers to give it to young readers too soon. I think it will be fully understood by seventh or eighth grade, but high school students are the best audience and will find it a fun but thought provoking read. A very good choice for a reluctant reader in high school. It is indeed suspenseful and thought provoking, short and easy show more to read. But an older reader will have the life experiences to really understand the themes. show less

The Black Pearl is a well-written coming of age story, even a bit of a page turner. The book grabbed my attention quickly and then held it by steadily tightening the stakes. Yet somehow I finished the book with a shrug. As with O'Dell's Sing Down the Moon, there's no pathos to the prose. You're incredibly close to the protagonist, but you're never really in his head. I did my best to fill in the blanks, especially after tragedy struck (as it always does in his books). Just think of this as an emotional DIY project while enjoying the story itself, which I found quite compelling.

I liked this book for three main reasons. First, I really liked how O’Dell once again ensured the main character of the book was well developed. The reader could really see how young Ramon Salazar grew into a man throughout the book. The book starts with Ramon reminiscing about the past and then he retells the story of the Black Pearl. But throughout the story, the reader is able to see the different situations he dealt with and how he handled them. The decisions he made and how he acted emulated how he was maturing. Second, I thought it was very interesting how there were illustrations dispersed throughout the book. They were more abstract-type illustrations and appeared as if they were drawn with pencil. I thought that they enhanced show more the story because they enriched the mood of what was happening in the story. Also, by using black pencil drawings/sketches I thought it dramatized the ominous feel of some things that happened in the story. For example, one illustration depicts the Manta Diablo and it appears as if the creature encompasses the entire sketch. This gives the feeling of how dangerous and large the creature is. Lastly, I felt the descriptive language, paired with these intermittent illustrations, helped to activate the readers’ imagination. For example, when describing El Diablo in a passage it says, “The Manta Diablo is the larger than the largest ship in the harbor. He has seven rows of teeth.” This passage, and many others alike allow for the reader to create a picture of this massive beast in their minds. The main message of the book is something may not always be as it seems; nature can be beautiful and offer great treasure but it could also be dangerous and cause tragedy too. show less

In this short novella Ramon seeks to prove his worth, finds an amazing treasure, loses his father, and confronts the wicked bully. And yet the story is told in spare lines and the myth (or reality) of the Manta Diablo infuses it all with a curious mixture of faith and disbelief.

Set in the city of La Paz, Baja that the California Sur, Mexico at some unspecified time in the past, The Black Pearl centres on the alleged fortune of finding a very large and valuable pearl. At 16, Ramón Salazar is made a partner in his father's business but still forbidden the dangerous activity of diving for pearls. Among his father's employees, the best diver is Gaspar Ruiz ("The Sevillano"), a braggart who likes to tease Ramón by calling him a spoiled, inexperienced child.

Enraged by such insult, Ramón takes the first chance he gets to learn how to dive. When his father is away on business, he leaves the family home and becomes friends with Soto Luzon, an Indian who lives on a secluded lagoon. He can convince Luzon to become his show more teacher, and Ramón turns out to be a quick learner. However, the Indian warns him of a certain underwater cave, where he believes the Manta Diablo, a giant manta, lurks. According to the Indian, any pearl taken from there will prompt the Manta Diablo's rage, and the devilfish will pursue the thief until the pearl is returned. Ramón dismisses the warning as sheer superstition, and on the fourth day, inside the cave, is fortunate enough to pry open an oyster and extract a black pearl the size of a grapefruit—"the great Pearl of Heaven".

When he arrives back in La Paz, rumour spreads quickly, and after removing a slight flaw from the pearl, Ramón's father cannot resist showing it to the crowd which has gathered outside the Salazar home. Subsequently, however, the Salazars are unable to sell the pearl as none of the four other pearl dealers in town is willing, or able, to pay the price demanded by them. Furious, the older Salazar presents the pearl to Father Gallardo, who places it in the outstretched hand of the Madonna, a statue of the Virgin Mary sitting in a niche of the local church. In return, Father Gallardo bestows God's blessing on the Salazar pearling fleet.

Made reckless by the blessing, Ramón's father decides to set sail despite a gathering chubasco, and although known as a fine captain, he cannot save his fleet of five boats from being wrecked in the storm. He drowns together with his 30 men, with Gaspar Ruiz, the ablest swimmer, the only survivor.

Soto Luzon utters another warning and insists that the storm was brought on by the Manta Diablo who wants his pearl back, and Ramón now believes him. He steals the pearl with the intent to return it to the manta, but Gaspar Ruiz, armed with a knife, meets him at the lagoon and takes it from him, intending to make his own fortune. Ramón is compelled at knifepoint to paddle their boat to the city where the Sevillano wants to sell the pearl, but the manta follows them, to recover his pearl, as Ramón is convinced. The Sevillano laughs at his fears, and when the manta does attack them, he harpoons it, and ends up accidentally strapped to the manta when it eventually dives under. Both he and the manta die. Ramón stays in the area for a while to see if the Sevillano, known for his long dives, might reappear. When he does not, Ramón brings the pearl back to the church, feeling that only now has he finally become a man. show less