When I was little, I had more than my fair share of confounding obsessions. Two of them were quick sand and stowaways. With quick sand, I didn’t understand how anyone could get caught in it and then not be able to escape. With stowaways, I didn’t see how anyone could sneak onboard without getting caught and then get away with it.
Imagine my delight when my son and I started Karen Hesse's novel Stowaway last evening. It’s a work of historical fiction, about an 11-year-old lad named Nicholas Young who stowed away on James Cook’s first voyage, from Plymouth, England to the South Seas, 1768 – 1771. My son’s been rebuffing my efforts to get him to read anything in the genre. He adores fantasy and comic strips. I’m thrilled that this story, written as the journal of Nicholas Young, has hooked Isaac to the degree that this morning he asked if he could take the book to school with him.
Given Cook’s itinerary, I thought sweeps to this part of the world would make sense today. I found several to Tahiti. Only I wasn’t comfortable of their bona fides. No Official Rules. So I’m going with one to Australia, one to New Zealand.
To enter the one to Australia, click HERE.
To enter the one to New Zealand, click HERE.