11 h 15 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
A coral island promises freedom, but three shipwrecked boys must learn how to stay alive—and protect their fragile home.
Ralph Rover goes to sea looking for adventure. A storm leaves him stranded on a Pacific island with Jack Martin and Peterkin Gay. Together, they find food, build shelter, and make tools. The reef and surrounding water invite discovery, but survival depends on what they can learn and do together.
Jack brings practical skill and steady judgment; Peterkin brings jokes and bold plans. Their companionship gives island life its warmth, yet visitors draw them into conflicts they do not fully understand. In R. M. Ballantyne’s The Coral Island, courage and Christian faith guide the heroes, while portrayals of Pacific peoples reflect Victorian colonial beliefs and racial stereotypes.
What you’ll discover
- Survival through shared effort Follow the boys as they combine their skills to find food, build shelter, and make tools.
- Three friends under pressure Meet Ralph, Jack, and Peterkin, whose different strengths help them face danger together.
- A reef to explore Share the pull of discovery as the companions investigate their island and its surrounding water.
- Danger beyond the shore Encounters with nearby islanders bring conflicts that test the boys’ hopes of protecting their life.
- A Victorian moral world Explore a story shaped by Christian faith, firm moral judgments, and colonial views of Pacific peoples.
Who will love it
For readers who love shipwreck survival, clever problem solving with an axe and a bit of cord, island exploring, close looks at nature, and sea adventure told in a warm, chatty voice.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A sea-struck boy sails for the South Seas
- Cleverness and cheer turn bare survival into comfort
- The island holds food, wonders and old secrets
- Beneath the lagoon lie beauty and danger
- Weapons, candles and a cave of glittering stone
- A boat, a monster wave and the penguins
- Savage war arrives on the white sand
- A black flag and a boy taken from the island
- What the story holds and how Ralph tells it
Who’s who
- Ralph RoverThe fifteen-year-old sailor who tells the story, a thoughtful watcher of nature who longs for the sea and keeps a promise to his mother.
- Jack MartinThe eighteen-year-old leader, strong, well read and calm, who solves problems and will risk his life for others.
- Peterkin GayThe youngest boy, a quick and mischievous joker who cannot dive but proves brave and loyal.
- AvateaA gentle young woman captured in war, who is in danger of being given to a chief she does not love.
- The pirate captainA huge, fierce man whose schooner flies a black flag and who seizes Ralph for his own purposes.
- Bloody BillA big, silent pirate who keeps to himself and shows Ralph an unexpected kindness.
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- Large print hardcover
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L'isola corallina
by R. M. Ballantyne · 1857
Three shipwrecked boys build a life on a Pacific coral island, until a black flag rises on the horizon.
Medium level10–20 hours to readItaliano
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In short
What would you do if a storm threw you onto an island with a broken penknife and the clothes on your back? Ralph Rover, a fifteen-year-old sailor, faces exactly that.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A sea-struck boy sails for the South Seas
Ralph Rover says roving is the joy of his heart. He is born on the Atlantic in a storm, the son and grandson of sea captains, and his shipmates add Rover to his name. Sailors tell him of coral islands where summer lasts nearly all year, and at fifteen he persuades his parents to let him go.
His mother gives him a small Bible and asks him to read a chapter each day. On the ship Arrow he meets two boys who become his dearest friends. Jack Martin is eighteen, tall, well read and calm. Peterkin Gay is about fourteen, small, quick and full of jokes.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 7 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1857
- Language
- Italiano
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Ballantyne, R. M. The Coral Island: A Tale of the Pacific Ocean. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-coral-island-a-tale-of-the-pacific-ocean.
Ballantyne, R. M. (2026). The coral island: A tale of the Pacific Ocean. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-coral-island-a-tale-of-the-pacific-ocean (Original work published 1857)
Ballantyne, R. M. The Coral Island: A Tale of the Pacific Ocean. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-coral-island-a-tale-of-the-pacific-ocean.
@book{ballantyne2026coral,
author = {Ballantyne, R. M.},
title = {The Coral Island: A Tale of the Pacific Ocean},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-coral-island-a-tale-of-the-pacific-ocean},
note = {First published 1857}
}
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What is The Coral Island about?
Three English boys, Ralph, Jack and Peterkin, are shipwrecked on a coral island in the Pacific. They learn to find food, make tools and explore, and later meet cannibals and pirates, so it is both a survival tale and a voyage.
Who are Jack, Ralph and Peterkin?
Ralph Rover, fifteen, tells the story. Jack Martin, eighteen, is the strong and well-read leader. Peterkin Gay, the youngest, is the joker. The three met aboard the ship Arrow and become close friends.
What is the setting of The Coral Island?
The book is set in the South Pacific, on a green coral island with a lagoon and reef. Ralph later sails to Emo, and the three boys sail to Mango, both said to be in the Fiji group.
The author
R. M. Ballantyne
1825–1894 · Scottish children's adventure novelist
R. M. Ballantyne (1825–1894) was a Scottish writer of fiction for young readers. He was born in Edinburgh and worked for the Hudson’s Bay Company in Canada from 1841 to 1847. He wrote The Coral Island (1857) and Blown to Bits (1889). He died in Rome.
More by R. M. Ballantyne
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