The Coral Island: A Tale of the Pacific Ocean (1857) is a novel written by Scottish author, Robert Michael Ballantyne. One of the first works of juvenile to feature exclusively juvenile heroes, the story relates the adventures of three boys marooned on a South Pacific island, the only survivors of a shipwreck. A typical Robinsonade — a genre of fiction inspired by Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe (1719) — and one of the most popular of its type, the book first went on sale in late 1857 and has never been out of print.The Coral Island: A Tale of the Pacific Ocean (1857) is a novel written by Scottish author, Robert Michael Ballantyne. One of the first works of juvenile to feature exclusively juvenile heroes, the story relates the adventures of three boys marooned on a South Pacific island, the only survivors of a shipwreck. A typical Robinsonade — a genre of fiction inspired by Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe (1719) — and one of the most popular of its type, the book first went on sale in late 1857 and has never been out of print.