Even though I'm the daughter of a sailor, I've never learned to enjoy sailing. However, my children love it, and together we've had many sailing adventures--seated safely on our couch as we've navigated the pages of Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series and other great books. Knowing the love of sailing that flows through my children's veins, I thought they'd be delighted to hear the real-life adventure of the Barry family as they sailed across the Atlantic. I was right.
Susan Barry Blair has written the true story of her family's adventures in an easy-to-read, 77-page, self-published book. The book is aimed at young readers ages 8-13, but I decided to read it aloud to my crew of young sailors. We dove in during a recent trip to the lake. We spent two delightful evenings laughing at their escapades and gripping the seats of our chairs during tense moments.
In 1975, when Susan was just 11 and her younger brother Stuart was 10, their parents made an announcement that would take them on the adventure of a lifetime! They had purchased a 38-foot sailboat with the intention of fixing it up and sailing from England, down the coast of Spain, into Africa, across the Atlantic to the Caribbean, and up to the United States! Can you imagine a better field trip?
Susan's book is a delightful telling of her family's journey. You'll read about the hurricane they survived, the reason you should never fish using your spinnaker sail as a net, the story of their cat being rescued from crocodiles, and how to make lunch on a volcano. Her simple explanations of sailboats and sailing made me understand things I've been meaning to look up since reading Ransome's books. Susan's dad navigated their trip with traded sea charts and a sextant--a perfect real-life application for anyone who's enjoyed Carry On, Mr. Bowditch. We referred to the simple hand-sketched map in the front of the book often, and it was a helpful addition to our reading of the story.
One of my favorite parts of Susan's story is the respect she shows for her parents. I'm always thrilled to read a book to my children that shows strong family relationships, and Adventure on the High Sea didn't disappoint. Susan speaks highly of her parents; her love and honor for them oozes from her writing. And you can tell that she truly enjoyed her relationship with her brother. The story is a rare, wholesome book that can be safely handed to a child to read on his own.
My only complaint was a little awkwardness in both the writing style and the layout. I'm assuming because her book was aimed at young readers, she felt a need to write in simple sentences. Some of the writing and chapter layouts led to choppiness when reading aloud. However, the short chapters will be a benefit to reluctant readers, and none of it detracted from the enjoyable story.
I was happy to learn that Susan is writing a sequel to her story; my crew and I will be happily onboard, eager to read of their next voyage!
Product review by Lisa Kjeldgaard, MS, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, LLC, November 2006
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