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originally in a comprehensible language such as
English. As Mila begins to learn English, the font changes. A larger, more boxy font is used. The letters look more clunky and less fluid to show that Mila is still new to the language. The font continues to change as Mila learns more English and begins to understand what it means to be English. The font gets smaller when her language understanding gets more complex. Towards the end of the book, Mila regresses to her previous state. The font style helps the reader see this regression occur. The ending of the story is once again written in the small, fluid italics. The reader can infer that Mila abandoned all language at this point and can return to the dolphins.
186:. At the novel's opening, when Mila is with the dolphins and cannot speak English, the book is written in a different font and more complex writing. This is representative of Mila's thoughts more so than her actual writing abilities. The text moves to simple English as Mila learns the language, becomes more complex as her emotions increase, and reverts to simple English when she yearns for the dolphins. There are a few inclusions of newspaper articles or other pieces written in third person, but the book is predominantly written in first person.
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wonders why she progresses so quickly while Shay does not. Shay is sent to another facility and a doctor explains to Mila that of all the feral children that have been studied, Mila is the only one who has continued progressing. Soon, Mila finds her newfound knowledge slipping away and regresses. She requests to be released back to the ocean and, after some discussing among her caregivers, she is returned to the ocean to reunite with her dolphin family.
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ended up in the research facility. Much of the beginning of the book is spoken dialog. This shows how Mila is discovering language and learning how to be a human. Hesse later includes some journal entries written by Mila. The journals demonstrate Mila's advanced understanding of language. It also provides readers with more thoughts from Mila.
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The inclusions of different genres and writing styles help provide context for the reader. At the beginning of the book, Hesse includes a newspaper article describing how the coast guard found Mila. This allows the reader to understand the events leading up to the start of the book, such as how Mila
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Hesse incorporates different writing styles and fonts in each section of the book to help express Mila's thoughts as well as extra context. The fonts vary as Mila learns
English. When Mila knows no language, a smaller font is used in italics. This implies that they are Mila's thoughts, but not
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Mila, a girl raised by dolphins, is discovered and captured on a cay and taken to a scientific research facility. She progresses quickly and meets Shay, another feral child who looks like Mila. Shay is a quiet girl. As more time passes, Mila falls in love with music and a boy named Justin, and
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and taken to a scientific research facility, where she is taught to be a human by Doctor Beck, who helps her in her struggle to learn
English and about human life. At one point, Mila learns that her real name could be Olivia, and that her father, who is
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at the facility where Mila is kept. He appears to be afraid of Mila, though he openly expresses concern for her well-being when she develops a high fever. He reminds Mila of her grandfather.
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The ones that raise Mila. Her dolphin mother has a spotted tail or fluke, and wise eyes; she had lost her baby calf shortly before finding Mila.
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of Mila and the attention Dr. Beck gives her. Later he tells Mila that Dr. Beck's interest in Mila is more scientific than
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experiences of people who have worked with feral children.
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282:and understanding person in the story.
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360:Karen Hesse's page on Macmillan.com
234:, is alive. Mila is currently 17.
151:that follows the story of Mila, a
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416:Children's novels about animals
339:"The Music of Dolphins Summary"
221:of the story, a girl raised by
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375:Children's literature portal
411:Novels set in the Caribbean
312:Use of Multi-genre Elements
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396:American children's novels
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401:Fictional feral children
225:. She is captured on a
406:Fiction about dolphins
189:Although the novel is
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421:1996 children's books
238:Doctor Elizabeth Beck
175:, meaning "miracle".
140:The Music of Dolphins
391:1996 American novels
16:Story by Karen Hesse
180:narrative structure
155:raised by a pod of
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159:around the
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50:Greg Harlin
41:Karen Hesse
385:Categories
325:References
210:Characters
306:Dolphins:
195:real life
165:Caribbean
110:Paperback
75:Publisher
266:familial
223:dolphins
157:dolphins
55:Language
343:E Notes
290:janitor
262:jealous
201:Summary
191:fiction
173:milagro
169:Spanish
147:, is a
108:Print (
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270:climax
258:Justin
217:: The
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276:Sandy
248:Idaho
232:Cuban
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215:Mila
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90:1996
227:cay
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
