From Publishers Weekly
" 'Tis a beautiful cay, dis cay,' Timothy had said. He was right." So says Phillip Enright after his first actual view of the islet on which, in The Cay , he was stranded with the old black sailor Timothy, who taught him to survive. Phillip's return to the isolated spot marks the culmination of a journey both physical and spiritual. In alternating chapters Taylor recounts the events following the blinded 12-year-old's rescue from the remote island, and chronicles Timothy's history as well. In the tradition of its predecessor, this "prequel/sequel" explores social and racial imbalances and draws a graceful parallel between Timothy's youthful struggle to achieve an unheard-of dream--the captaincy of his own boat--and Philip's courage in choosing to undergo a risky operation to restore his vision. At times, the author seems to apologize for Timothy's illiteracy, his stubbornness and his belief in the spirits called jumbis , which seems unnecessary, given the character's obvious dignity and deep-rooted wisdom. Somewhat more thoughtful than its well-loved antecedent, this boldly drawn novel is no less commanding. Ages 10-14. Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 5-8-Twenty-four years after publication of The Cay (Doubleday, 1987, 1969), Taylor returns to his story of a young white boy stranded on a Caribbean island with an elderly, resourceful black man. The narrative alternates between Phillip's first-person accounts of what happened to him after his rescue, and flashbacks in the third person telling Timothy's story, starting with his childhood in St. Thomas. In The Cay, readers learned how Phillip came to be on the torpedoed ship Hato; this prequel/sequel adds depth to Timothy's character through its treatment of episodes that led up to that event. The boy's story is less revealing than the man's, and some of it has already been told and is slightly contradicted by dates in the final chapter of The Cay. Faithful in tone, dialect, and characterization to the earlier title, Timothy does not delve as deeply into the theme of the first book. Instead, while it touches on racial prejudice, its focus is more on Phillip's appreciation of his friend and guardian angel, and on the adventurous and touching yarns of the West Indian man's life at sea. Those who enjoyed the earlier book will feel as though they're meeting up with old acquaintances and learning more about them, and will see the story come full circle when Phillip returns-with his sight-to the island.Susan Knorr, Milwaukee Public Library, WICopyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
The Cay (the award-winning 1969 novel about racial prejudice in the 1940s) is the unseen vessel in the middle of a ``prequel/sequel'' in which Taylor explores both the black man Timothy's life as it leads up to the wreck of the Hato in the Caribbean during WW II and 12-year-old Phillip Enright's journey back to civilization after his rescue from the island. Alternating chapters follow Timothy from his early abandonment by his mother through his struggles to sail the sea and his command of his own ship; and Phillip's agony as he returns to the busy streets and busy lives of his parents, through an operation to regain his sight, and finally to a return with his father to Timothy's cay. Laced with a lilting island cadence, Timothy's chapters sketch a murky sea of racial prejudice; readers will ache with him at his losses. Phillip's chapters, in a terse first person, depict the narrowness of his mother's world with a clarity heightened by Phillip's blindness. A journey well worth taking. (Fiction. 10-14) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
"Anyone who enjoyed The Cay will want to read the stunning prequel-sequel"
"No Less Commanding Than The Cay"
Book Description
For the millions who care about Timothy and young Phillip -- for all those who want to know more of Timothy's life before his fateful meeting with young Phillip and what happened to Phillip after he was rescued from the tiny island...
Two young men. Two dreams. Their lives intersect on a tiny cay for three months, when one is over seventy and the other is only eleven. One of them died there. The other was forever changed by his encounter with the first.
Card catalog description
Having survived being blinded and shipwrecked on a tiny Caribbean island with the old black man Timothy, twelve-year-old white Phillip is rescued and hopes to regain his sight with an operation. Alternate chapters follow the life of Timothy from his days as a young cabin boy.
About the Author
Theodore Taylor was born in North Carolina and began writing at the age of thirteen as a cub reporter for the Portsmouth, Virginia Evening Star.Leaving home at seventeen to join the Washington Daily News as a copy boy, he worked his way toward New York City and became an NBC network sportswriter at the age of nineteen.Mr. Taylor is the author of a dozen books for young readers, among them the award-winning The Cay. He lives in Laguna Beach, California, with his wife, Flora.
Timothy of the Cay
ANNOTATION
Having survived being blinded and shipwrecked on a tiny Caribbean island with the old black man Timothy, twelve-year-old white Phillip is rescued and hopes to regain his sight with an operation. Alternate chapters follow the life of Timothy from his days as a young cabin boy.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
In this successor to the bestselling novel The Cay, readers learn about Timothy's life before he was shipwrecked with the young white boy, Phillip Enright, and about Phillip's life after his rescue from the cay.
FROM THE CRITICS
Sacramento Bee
Anyone who enjoyed The Cay will want to read the stunning prequel-sequel.
Children's Literature - Beth Shotwell-Valeo
Taylor's first novel for young readers, The Cay, is the story of a boy's life-threatening adventure at sea in 1942 after his freighter, the Hato, is torpedoed by a German submarine. In his quest for survival, the boy must overcome his racial and cultural prejudices, as well as a serious physical disability in this Robinson Crusoe setting. More than twenty years passed before Taylor produced the prequel-sequel, Timothy of the Cay. The two stories make for compelling reading, and the events, characters and setting are still very much of relevance today. After reading the first, the second expands on the adventure.
The ALAN Review - Margaret J. Ford
The Caribbean cadences of Timothy's "pidgin Engleesh" blend with Phillip Enright's sightless reminiscences in the prequel-sequel to Taylor's acclaimed The Cay. Taylor recreates Timothy's childhood on St. Thomas with his adopted aunt, Tante Hannah Gumb, and his life on the sea and juxtaposes the story with the life of Phillip Enright after he is rescued from the cay-thus a prequel-sequel. The two points of view are distinct yet appear to merge as Timothy's resolve and determination to one day own his own ship runs in counterpoint to Phillip's determination to regain his sight and see his cay once again, even though the surgery might leave him paralyzed or dead. Taylor weaves a compelling tale of prejudice, Caribbean slavery and seaport life, and the stresses of World War II. His characterization and mastery of Caribbean dialect create an unforgettable portrait of the determination of youth and the wisdom of age.
BookList - Stephanie Zvirin
After more than 20 years of hesitation on the part of the author, comes what he calls a prequel-sequel to his 1969 novel "The Cay". The strange term is not used lightly, for the story is, in fact, a complicated entwining of two personal narratives, set in different times and very unlike in pacing and mood. One takes place before Timothy and Phillip are shipwrecked on their tiny Caribbean island; the other, after Phillip is saved. Phillip's story, the sequel, follows him from his rescue to his return to the cay, his bigotry gone, to pay last respects to his beloved friend. It's Timothy's story, the prequel, that's the more exciting of the two. There's a strong sense of place in its telling, which begins in 1884 with 12-year-old Timothy's decision to go to sea and ends with old Timothy's meeting the uppity, prejudiced white boy on the life raft. Taylor is true to the characters he created for the original book--especially Timothy, whose lilting dialect, strength, and sense of honor are again a part of his character. But unlike the first book, this one is underscored with an indictment of prejudice: It's obvious (too obvious) in the story of Timothy's ancestry and in the characterization of Phillip's intolerant mother. There are great gaps in Timothy's history, and Phillip's story becomes tedious in comparison with Timothy's colorful adventures. Still, Taylor paints powerful pictures of the churning sea and the sights and smells of Back O' All, where Timothy lived as a boy. The author also manages some moving moments of introspection and quiet heroism as well as an occasional snatch of the same wild drama that fired "The Cay". Kids expecting the smoothly written heroic adventure they found in "The Cay" will be in for a surprise, but they'll recognize enough of what they loved in the first book to want to stick with this one to the end.
AudioFile - Amy MacDonald
This is a good example of a book that gains greatly from even a modest audio production. The story of a young white boyﾽs moving friendship with an old black Virgin Islander during WWII is set largely in St. Thomas. Thereﾽs no way a child reading to himself would be able to imagine the delightful, lilting rhythms and unique pronunciations of that local dialect. Jeff Woodman makes an otherwise unexceptional and unadorned reading sparkle with his characterizations of the aged Timothy and other islanders, this despite Woodman being, apparently, neither old nor black. A.M. ﾽAudioFile, Portland, Maine
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