Pace was a bit too slow. Perhaps I should not venture a long sea voyage... Otherwise, filled with great details -- reader will certainly come away with knowledge of what it was like to be on Captain Cook's Endeavor. Useful appendices: glossary, ship's company and ship's itinerary. ( )

The story of Nicholas Young and his adventures on the Endeavor are told in diary form. Although it's fiction, the story is based upon actual ships logs and diaries from the voyage of the Endeavor, led by Captain Cook.

The author describes this exploratory voyage through the eyes of Nick who is eleven years old at the start of the voyage. It's filled with details and historical accuracy. My only complaints are that the author doesn't go into more detail about Nick's past, or his future and the second half of the book get a little tedious because it drags on. This is probably due to the fact that very little is known about the actual Nicholas Young aside from his association with this voyage and the "dragging plot" towards the end is due to the author staying true to the actual tale.

Aside from those frustrations, Stowaway is a great nautical adventure. ( )

Authentic ship’s boy

steals onto boat: adventure!

Captain Cook, ahoy! ( )

http://bcjennyo.livejournal.com/22566... ( )

One drawback to reading the books assigned by my daughter's curriculum is that I start to get bored with reading about the same events or the same settings. A few months back I had gotten my fill of Leonardo da Vinci, Queen Elizabeth I and the whole Renaissance. These days, as my daughter studies the age of exploration and colonization, I'm starting to tire of reading accounts of ocean voyages. If I read about seasickness, scurvy and wormy biscuits too many more times, I'm going to have to start seeking out a copy of Dune or Lawrence of Arabia or something. On the other hand, sometimes a book is so well written that one can gloss over the same old, same old and enjoy the milieu afresh. Such is the case of this book. Stowaway is the fictionalized tale of Nicholas Young, a young lad who journeyed around the world with Captain James Cook on his 1768 to 1771 voyage. Young's name suddenly appears in the ship's log eight months after the ship sailed from England, leading historians to speculate that he was a stowaway. Ms. Hesse has taken that idea, as well as the historical records of the voyage, and woven them together to make a great tale. She made the voyage come alive, allowing me to taste the joy and emotional hardships experienced by young Nick. I'll never complain about flight delays again... well, at least not often. Anyway, I'm really toying with the idea of hanging onto the book after the kids' school days have passed. One thing is certain, though, Stowaway is well worth checking out.
--J ( )