A fight for survival leads to the unlikeliest of friendships

Phillip is excited when the Germans invade the small island of Curacao. War has always been a game to him, and he's eager to glimpse it firsthand - until the freighter he and his mother are traveling to the United States on is torpedoed.

When Phillip comes to, he is on a small raft in the middle of the sea. Besides Stew Cat, his only companion is an old West Indian, Timothy. Phillip remembers his mother's warning about black people: "They are different, and they live differently."

But by the time the castaways arrive on a small island, Phillip's head injury has made him blind and dependent on Timothy.

Phillip and Timothy's struggle to outwit nature has captivated readers for generations. The Cay is an enduring classic about a boy who goes blind and the friendship that saves him.