2. Elizabeth Fama
Young-adult author
Best known book: “Monstrous Beauty”
Attended University of Chicago
Has a BA in biology
Has a MBA and PhD in economics and finance
She has four children
Married to John H. Cochrane, who is also an author.
Follow her on Twitter!! @elizabethfama
3. Genre of Overboard
Overboard is a Realistic Fiction book
Young-adults
Adventure
Suspense
Family
Published in 2005
Book takes place anytime between 1990-2005
Inspired by a real ferry disaster in Indonesia
4. Main Characters
Emily- forced to move to Sumatra with her parents to
work at the hospital with them. She tries to leave on
her own but the ferry ends up sinking. She tries to save
not only herself but her knew friend.
Isman- A 7 year old boy Emily becomes good friends
with and takes care of to survive.
5. Major Themes
Survival
Friendship
Family
Independent
Lonely
Religion
Personal Strength
Positive and negative thinking
6. Quotes
“I think you should sleep for a time, and I will watch you to
see that you are safe.”
Shows that Emily is a good friend to Isman
“You’re not really afraid of the dark are you Emily?”
Shows how Emily is scared, and can hurt her chance of
survival
“I’m so desperate for those boats, I’m making them up in
my head.”
Shows how tired, and desperate for being rescued Emily is
7. Summary of Book
Emily is forced to move to Sumatra with her parents to work at a
hospital. She gets so tired of it she decides to run away to an
island where her uncle is supposedly staying. When she is on the
ferry to the island the ferry starts to sink. Everyone is frantic and
is pushing and shoving, Emily then finds herself in the water
with no life vest. She decides to swim for a light she sees out in
the ocean, but it ends up being a lot farther than she thought.
On her journey to the light she finds a little boy named Isman.
She decides to take care of him and promise him she will get him
home safe. They become very close and Isman relies on her for
everything. When they reach the island it is nothing but a pile of
rocks and a lighthouse on top. They keep swimming and Emily
ends up losing Isman in the currents. Emily finally reaches and
island and passes out, when she awakes she is on a boat with
Isman right next to her.
8. Works Cited
Fama, Elizabeth. "Author Elizabeth Fama." : Teacher
Guide for Overboard. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2013.
