The Cay is a young-adult novel by American author Theodore Langhans Taylor. It was dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr. who was assassinated a year before the release. Published in 1969 by Avon Publications, it was followed by Timothy of the Cay, which acted as a prequel-sequel to the characters Timothy and Philip respectively. The novel was surprisingly written in a span of three weeks, since Taylor had already mapped out the story for more than a decade.
Germany invades Poland, which sparks World War II. German submarines surround Curaçao, where Philip Enright and his mother live. They attempt to escape by boarding a ship to the US. Unfortunately, their ship is attacked and destroyed. Philip and Timothy survive the attack. Together, they drift off to an island where they must learn to survive, counting the days until they are rescued. Gradually, they learn to see past their racial prejudice and work together to survive.
The novel was heavily criticized for its openly racist sentiment. In 1970, it was awarded the Jane Addams Children's Book. In 1974, the award's committee stated that they had committed a grave mistake by awarding the novel after it was adapted into a film. Taylor defended his work by saying that his intention was to spark a conversation on race relations and not to be outright racist. He even went a step further by returning the award. Taylor's intention was however not lost, as his novel became a staple reading material for many schools in the US. Despite this, some schools have called for it to be banned for fear of indoctrinating children into racist ideology.
The Cay was awarded the 1970 California Book Award, Lewis Carroll Shelf Award, Vermont Golden Dome Book Award, and the Commonwealth Club Award.
