Journal Of A Boy On An Al: Greenhorn on an Alaskan Whaling Ship, The, Florence, 1874 (My Name Is America)
Grade 5-8-Brian Doyle, 14, decides he has had enough of his alcoholic, abusive father and leaves San Francisco to sign on to a whaling ship. From the beginning, the voyage appears to be plagued by bad luck: the sailors find very few whales and must journey to the frigid, dangerous seas around Alaska. Brian's journal details the trials of living aboard the Florence, including the clash of personalities, bad weather, an incompetent captain, and the illness and death of some crewmembers. When they enter the Bering Strait and the ice closes around the ship, the sailors must abandon the vessel and split up with the lifeboats. When Brian's group reaches land, he sets off on his own to look for a settlement and brings back help to rescue the rest of the men. Murphy does a good job of combining a gripping adventure with Brian's coming-of-age experience and plenty of meaty details about shipboard life and whaling in the 1870s. A small selection of photos is included, and a historical note provides interesting information about the whaling industry.Shelley B. Sutherland, Niles Public Library District, ILCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.