The Wanderer (original 2000; edition 2001)

To quote KLIATT's March 2000 review of the hardcover edition: Sophie, age 13, heads off on the adventure of a lifetime: she will spend a month crossing the Atlantic in a sailboat called The Wanderer with her three uncles and her two teenaged cousins, fusspot Brian and devil-may-care Cody... a force-10 gale hits and they barely survive the storm, but finally manage to make it to England where their grandfather Bompie now lives. On the trip, Sophie tells them stories of Bompie and his childhood escapades, in which he always nearly drowns but manages to pull through. These stories entertain but puzzle the others, because Sophie was just adopted three years ago, and she has never met Bompie... Sophie, of course, is a "wanderer" too, who has longed for years to belong to a family. Told in alternating journal entries written by Sophie and by Cody, this is an exciting and touching story of adventure on the high seas and of emotional discoveries. Life on the sailboat is described in careful detail, and the six on board realistically have their squabbles and their differences. The terror of the gale is particularly convincing, reminiscent of The Perfect Storm. Fanciful b/w drawings, resembling woodcuts, decorate each chapter opening. As in Walk Two Moons, Creech's Newbery Medal-winning novel, an important theme here is coping with loss, and the power of stories to help us deal with grief. The ending is full of hope, and readers will empathize with both Sophie and Cody as they survive their ordeal at sea and strive for understanding of themselves and others. (Editor's note: A Newbery Honor Book and an ALA Notable Book and Best Book for Young Adults, among other honors.) KLIATTCodes: J*—Exceptional book, recommended for junior high school students. 2000, HarperTrophy, 306p. illus.,

Like Creech's Walk Two Moons and Chasing Redbird, this intimate novel poetically connects journey with self-discovery. When 13-year-old Sophie learns that her three uncles and two male cousins plan to sail across the Atlantic to visit the uncles' father, Bompie, in England, she begs to go along. Despite her mother's protests and the men's misgivings, Sophie joins the "motley" crew of the 45-foot The Wanderer and soon proves herself a worthy sailor. The novel unfolds through travel logs, predominantly penned by Sophie (with intermittent musings from her clownish cousin, Cody) that trace each leg of the eventful voyage; each opens with a handsome woodblock-like print by Diaz (Smoky Night). The teens' insightful observations reveal the frailties of both the boat and its six passengers, whose fears and regrets anchor them down. Sophie, who was adopted just three years ago, proves the most complicated and mysterious of all the characters; her ambivalent feelings about the sea ("The sea, the sea, the sea. It rolled and rolled and called to me... but some said I was too young and the sea was a dangerous temptress...") correlate to a repressed memory of a tragic accident. Stories Sophie tells about Bompie, as well as clever throwaway bits (such as the brothers' given names: Ulysses, Jonah and Moses), temper the novel's more serious undercurrents. Creech once again captures the ebb and flow of a vulnerable teen's emotional life, in this enticing blend of adventure and reflection. Ages 8-12. (Mar.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

"The sea, the sea. It rolled and rolled and called to me. Come in, it said, come in." Thirteen-year-old Sophie has begged her way aboard The Wanderer, Uncle Dock's 45-foot sailboat, for a voyage from Connecticut across the Atlantic Ocean to England and her grandfather, Bompie. It will be a dangerous voyage, but Sophie welcomes the challenge. She is a seasoned sailor whose seafaring skills match those of her three uncles and two cousins. The inevitable friction between close relatives in close quarters adds spark to the tale as these sailors face a storm that almost sinks their boat. They wonder if they'll live to see land again. Each character in this story comes to life on the pages. The perils and mysteries of the sea are so realistically presented that readers will feel the wind, hear the snap of the sails, and taste the salt spray as they find themselves intrigued by the mysterious Sophie herself. Why does she deny being an orphan? How can she know personally told tales from a grandfather she has never met? What happened to her parents? Newbery Medal winner for Walk Two Moons (HarperCollins, 1994), Sharon Creech, presents answers to these questions slowly and obliquely through logbook entries written by Sophie and her "dangerously charming" cousin, Cody. David Diaz's ink drawings at the chapter headings help pull the reader into the swirling sea scenes. Through words and pictures, readers come to understand and appreciate Sophie's love/hate relationship with the sea as her inner thoughts touch on profound ideas that readers can ponder as they relate her life to their own. Out here, there isn't day and night and then a new day. Instead, there are degrees of light and dark, mergingand changing. It's like one long stream of time unfolding in front of you, all around you . . . maybe people never die, but simply live on and on, leaving other planes behind . . . maybe we're not each just one person, but many people existing on millions of different planes . . .Sophie and the sailing ship are both wanderers in this story of adventure, courage and personal growth. The invitation is there for readers to test their own mettle by joining them. 2000, Harper Collins, $15.95. Ages 8 to 12. Reviewer: Dorothy Francis — The Five Owls, May/June 2000 (Vol. 14 No. 5)