Top 10: If you were stuck on a desert island, which book would you want to have with you?
From the Oxford English Dictionary to a blank notebook, here are our favourite answers
I’d bring Bear Grylls’ autobiography Mud, Sweat and Tears. He is an expert at surviving in the wild, so I think I could learn a lot from his book about how to get off the island and get back home.
Ho Shing-chun, 12, Maryknoll Fathers’ School
I'd definitely bring along a book that could teach me how to survive on an island. I don’t want to be alone forever on the island or sit around waiting to be saved. At least my book could teach me what dangerous things to avoid on the island and how to build a boat that could get me back home.
Leung Chui-yi, 13, Shatin Tsung Tsin Secondary School
I’d like to have a world atlas with me. That way I could figure out where I was, and after pinpointing my location, I could use some of the pages to start a fire to cook food, distil water, give me light at night, and signal for help.
Isaac Wong, 11, SKH Ling Oi Primary School
Talking points: Should the sale of junk food be banned at school canteens?
Robinson Crusoe. This novel is about a man who spent 28 years on a remote tropical desert island and was eventually rescued. I hope I can learn from his experiences and escape from the island I’m stuck on.
Liu Tsz-ki, 14, Shatin Tsung Tsin Secondary School
I’d bring a notebook with me and I’d write down what happens each day in it. I’m sure it would be tough to live on a desert island. Even if I could never leave the island, at least people might one day be able to find my notes and I could be famous.
Winnie Li, 15, Ng Yuk Secondary School
I’d like to have the book How to Build Your Own Boat from Scratch with me. This is a real book by John Traister that teaches people how to build their own boat. I don’t think I’d be able to survive for long on a desert island, so I would want to build a boat that could get me back home as soon as possible.
Kirby Lau Yan-yu, 13, Maryknoll Fathers’ School
Face off: Are students environmentally aware enough?
I’d bring a funny novel with me so I can relax when I’m feeling nervous. Once I’m relaxed, I can start to think of ways to escape the island.
Ting Wing-yau, 13, Kwok Tak Seng Catholic Secondary School
I’d bring the book The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham. It’s not a book that could help me survive on the island, but it is one that has been extremely influential to me. I don’t think a survival guide would help me live very long on the island, so I might as well have a book that can help me enjoy my few remaining days on Earth.
Vivian Cheng Nga-wai, 15, Carmel Pak U Secondary School
Because I think it would be very boring to live on a desert island, I’d bring an Oxford English Dictionary with me so that I could kill time learning new words. It doesn’t matter if I can’t use all the words I learned once I leave the island, I just think it would be a good way to spend my time while I’m there.
Cici Ho, 17, Fung Kai No. 1 Secondary School
I’d like to have Life of Pi with me. I find the book very inspiring as it shows me that hope can be found even in the most desperate of situations. Also, the main character is very brave and he would inspire me to not give up on any chance to survive.
Kenny Lee, 16, Fung Kai No. 1 Secondary School