Drift House: The First Voyage
Drift House: The First Voyage is a 2005 children's novel written by Dale Peck. This was Peck's first children's book; he is best known as a polemicist reviewer, and adult novelist. In 2007 and 2008, Chicago Public Schools placed the novel on their recommended reading list for School Grades 6–8. Influences. Dale Peck wrote the book after a friend living in Cape Cod described a dream he had had about his house floating out to sea. He cites The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis as a strong influence  on the book. Plot. After the 9/11 attack on New York City, the three Oakenfeld children, Susan, Charles, and Murray, are sent to live with their Uncle Farley in Canada. Farley has recently bought a strange ship-like home named "Drift House" on "The Bay of Eternity". The home resembles a bizarre old-time ship, washed ashore. The children immediately find the home very odd. When they question their uncle about the strange house, he becomes nervous and distracted. The children later explore the house, where they meet a talkative parrot named President Wilson. One morning, they wake to discover  the house has been raised up by a flood, carried out of the bay, and has drifted into the "Sea of Time" – a place where past, present, and future converge. Susan, Charles and Murray, along with Uncle Farley and President Wilson embark on an adventure where they discover evil mermaids, comical pirates, a wise whale, predictions of things to come, and a secret plot that could stop time itself. Reception. Sarah Sawtelle of Kidsreads found the book a "well-crafted adventure series that is sure to be another children's classic". Releases and sequel. The book was first released in  the United States and the United Kingdom in a hardcopy edition on September 17, 2005, by Bloomsbury Publishing (). It was subsequently released as a paperback version by Scholastic Books on October 31, 2006 (). A sequel titled "" was released in 2007.