So many thrilling adventures have been written about the sea and sailing. These are a few new ocean-faring, and in one case fog-faring, tales for young readers.
"The Boy Who Fell Off the Mayflower — or John Howland's Good Fortune" by P.J. Lynch; Candlewick Press; 64 pages; $17.99.
Tales of the Mayflower's perils and of pilgrims shouldn't be relegated to November. P.J. Lynch's lengthy, dramatic picture book tells the courageous story of teen John Howland, who survived the desperate crossing of the Atlantic, earning his keep by scouting out a safe harbor and landing site. Written in near-verse paragraphs, Lynch makes sure to include not only facts and danger, but humanistic portions of the journey, about girls playing games with "little'uns" to keep their spirits up, and about the kindness of Indians upon shore.
Plenty of sea adventure is at work here, with John's important assistance resulting in the Mayflower landing safely instead of being ripped to shreds by a violet ocean. Told from the teen's perspective, Lynch's first book as author and illustrator has plenty of adventure, drama and amazing tenacity for young readers. It captures a pivotal time in American history in exquisite detail, and his read certainly is more exciting then most proper Pilgrim tales. Lynch's account of Howland falling off the Mayflower in a storm is a riveting life-or-death struggle that adds breathtaking amazement to this gorgeous Junior Library Guild selection.
Also a spellbinding and compelling seafaring "True Story of Emily Edmonson's Flight From Slavery," is Winifred Conkling's "Passenger on the Pearl," (Algonquin Young Readers; 170 pages and $10.95). A heart-wrenching true tale of one young woman willing to risk her life at sea for a change at freedom, Conkling's depiction for middle grade readers chronicles the largest slave escape in American history, with photographs and illustrations.
"The Girl from Everywhere" by Heidi Heilig; Greenwillow/HarperCollins; 451 pages; $17.99.
A quick-moving time travel adventure, Heidi Heilig's debut teen fantasy flies from today's New York City to 19th Century Hawaii, to mythic Scandinavia to many more locales real and imagined. Teen Nix spends her entire life sailing aboard her father's ship, across centuries and worlds, following maps ... 19th Century China, the land from "One Thousand and One Nights," mythical Africa. Along the way, they find friends and crewmates, and even an endearing thief. But what Nix's father wants most of all is to make his way back to 1868 Honolulu to his lost love, her mother, which may actually erase Nix's existence.
Blending history, mythology, fantasy, sea-faring adventures and love with a modern voice, "The Girl From Everywhere" is a witty, fast-paced, epic novel teens will embrace wholeheartedly.
"The Fog Diver" by Joel Ross; HarperCollins; 328 pages; $16.99.
A unique take on sea-faring adventures, this multi-faceted thriller for middle grade readers takes place up on the fog, as 13-year-old Chess and his crew sail through the shrouded mist to survive. Acting as a quiet, quick tether boy on his salvage raft, Chess needs daring Hazel the captain, strong Swedish the pilot, and fun, daring Bea as the mechanic, to make their journey work.
The foursome scavenge fog-shrouded ruins for anything they can sell to survive, but are always dodging the ruthless Lord Kodoc, who's after Chess for a secret the elder wants to exploit.
With fantastical adventure way up where humanity clings to the highest mountain peaks and five families rule the crowded slums, Joel Ross has woven a thrilling new world tale that empowers these determined slum kids. Readers ages eight to 12 will love this fast-paced post apocalyptic folksy tale upon a new sea.
"Waiting for High Tide" by Nikki McClure; Abrams Books for Young Readers; 42 pages; $19.95.
Nikki McClure's beautiful cut-paper artwork evokes the 1940s and '50s, with a vintage, clear look and minimal black and white (and here, blue), colors. In this exquisitely detailed picture book, a boy waits and waits for the tide to come up so he can float out on a raft with his mom, dad and grandma. But the waiting seems to take forever, and the boy notices all the life in the mud, at the shore, from clacking barnacles to gulls eating clams to hundreds of crabs scurrying and herons waiting for sculpins to zip about.
While anticipating the high tide, the boy and his family eat a picnic lunch, and work on their raft with a hatchet and rope threading and knot tying. He even, with Papa's help, adds a plank to the raft, so they can dive off "or be forced to walk by swimmers-turned-pirates."
McClure's evocative writing is so realistic and detailed - "Crows circle. Seals chasing fish stop to watch with shiny eyes. An eagle laughs overhead. A breath of rest, and then we all push as hard as we can....THE RAFT IS FLOATING!"
An amazing book that almost screams — "the wait is worth it" — "Waiting for High Tide" is a fantastic tour-de-force about the joys of the water's edge.
To find out more about Lee Littlewood, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
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