Dr. Franklin's Island

Dr. Franklin's Island
Author(s)	Ann Halam
Country	England
Language	English
Genre(s)	Science-Fiction
Publisher	E. P. Dutton/Plume, New York, NY, U.S.A.
Publication date	2001
Media type	Print
Pages	245 pp
ISBN	ISBN 1-85881-396-4

Dr. Franklin's Island is a science-fiction book for young adults by Ann Halam. It is narrated in the first person, by Semi. Loosely based on H.G. Wells' novel, The Island of Dr. Moreau, it tells the story of three teenagers who end up on an island owned by Dr. Franklin, a brilliant but insane scientist, who wants to use them as specimens for his transgenic experiments.

Plot

Nervous Semirah (Semi) Garson is on a plane to Ecuador with other British Planet Savers to a research facility in the deep forests of Ecudaor. They crash due to the pilot having a heart attack. Nearly everybody on the plane is killed except for her, Miranda, a brave girl, and Arnie, a sneaky, cunning boy. They survive on an island until Arnie disappears. Miranda and Semi go looking for him and are taken hostage by Dr Franklin and Dr Skinner, his assistant. They are told that they will be turned into a transgenetic bird and fish. A few painful weeks later, the process is finished, the two girls are released into separate cages, but can still communicate through radio chips planted in their new bodies. Suddenly, one day, they discover a new presence in the signals—Arnie, who they has thought was dead. They talk, and he tells them of an antidote. Somebody then begins to leave beside Semi’s cage the antidote to the animal genes, but doesn’t do so for Miranda. Dr Skinner soon starts visiting Semi’s pool-cage, horrified by the ‘first successes’. He tells her that he can help her escape, and soon she slips down a concealed pipe to the sea to meet Skinner. She is now a full human, but when she tries to find the rendezvous point and the boat, she is captured again by Dr Franklin. She is taken back to the compound and locked up. Next, Franklin goes out to bring Miranda into the lab, but Semi warns her using the radio signals. Skinner, again, frees her from the lockup and tells her to get back to the boat. Meanwhile, Miranda gets loose sending the workers and scientists running around trying to catch Miranda. Semi tries, but gets lost and finds, instead, a room with a huge snake. This, she discovers, is Arnie. She frees him and they meet Miranda, who has escaped, at the boat. They turn to see Franklin crash into the electrified fence of the compound, and then they escape to the mainland where they can contact their parents whom are happy to see them.

References

• Halam, Ann, 2001. Dr. Franklin's Island. London: Orion/Dolphin, 2001. ISBN 1-85881-396-4