Attack of the Turtle

Near the beginning of the Revolutionary War an extraordinary young man living in Connecticut, David Bushnell, designed and built the first submarine. Many of the design features that appeared in his first submarine, used a total of three times in the war against the British, are common to today's modern versions.

Attack of the Turtle is a fictional account of the building of the American Turtle. Nathan Wade, a 14 year old boy, son of a fisherman and cousin to David Bushnell, is living on his uncle's farm in Saybrooke, Connecticut after his father joins the army. He is deathly afraid of water, is beset daily by a bully, and in love with the town beauty, Rachel Pratt. That all changes when his cousin David returns from college. He is show more enlisted along with David's brother Ezra, to secretly build a "water machine" which will be used to attach a bomb to the underside of the British warships. Nate, has no idea how far from home this will take him and how much it will change his life and the course of the war.

This was a really great read-aloud story with my seven year old son. What boy doesn't love war, intrigue, and adventure? We both looked forward to the next night when we would find out what would befall Nathan next. Not only was the story enjoyable, it was a great history lesson. While Nathan wasn't real, David, Ezra, and most of the other people and events detailed in the story were real. Upon the conclusion of the book, my son I read up on the real story of David Bushnell and his amazing water machine. This was author Drew Carlson's debut novel and I'm already looking forward to see what he puts out next. show less

I was excited by the premise - I don't normally care for historical fiction, but I enjoy when little known or talked about in your run of the mill textbook are explored in a novel. However, this just fell flat for me. While the story was enagaging, the pace was off and seemed to drag and then race to certain plot points. None of the characters ever clicked with me and I had a hard time investing in the story because of it.
Not a first pick unless you need something very specific on this time period.