Despite a series of highly dramatic incidents [in Sarah Bishop], the story line is basically sharp and clear; O'Dell's messages about the bitterness and folly of war, the dangers of superstition, and the courage of the human spirit are smoothly woven into the story, as are the telling details of period and place. To many readers, the primary appeal of the book may be the way in which Sarah, like the heroine of Island of the Blue Dolphins, like Robinson Crusoe, makes a comfortable life in the isolation of the wilderness.