Kate has always looked forward to her family's canal boat trips to Washington City, but this year everything has changed. Papa is dead and Mama has remarried, bringing a stepsister and stepbrother into their family. Kate's new stepfather is off fighting for the Union, and now Mama's expecting a new baby, making the trip they planned impossible. But Kate refuses to give up; her family depends on the income from the coal they haul down the C&O Canal. Kate knows every one of the 184 miles of the waterway between Cumberland, Maryland and Georgetown by heart, as well as how to steer the boat and handle the mules that pull it.But Kate can't make the trip alone. As much as she resents her stepbrother, Seth, she needs his help; so with Kate at the tiller, and Seth walking beside the mules, the two set off, risking encounters with rebels, managing the canal's locks, and hiding the fact that they are two children traveling alone. But along the way, Kate discovers that working together not only means survival, it brings the understanding that will help her belong to a real family once again. Keystone to Reading Book Award Masterlist Black-Eyed Susan Book Award, Masterlist Maryland Children s Book Award Masterlist
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Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal
Grade 4-7-A novel set during the Civil War. Kate, 12, is resentful of her new stepfather who is away fighting in the Union army and of his children, 12-year-old Seth and 9-year-old Julia. When she learns that her mother plans to rent out the family canal boat for the summer, Kate decides that she will take the vessel the 184 miles down the Cumberland & Ohio Canal. Knowing that she can't possibly make the trip alone and left with no other options, she pressures her stepbrother to go along with her and they leave without her mother's knowledge. Stubborn and fiercely independent, Kate adamantly designates herself captain of The Mary Ann and has little patience with good-natured, virtuous Seth. With quiet resolve, the boy teaches her empathy and, by the novel's end, she has newfound respect and admiration for him. During the journey, she comes to terms with her father's death and realizes that she must accept changes. Julia, Kate's mother, and her stepfather are minor characters who pale in comparison to the thoughtfully created characters of Kate and Seth. Taking place primarily on the canal, the story has plenty of action and detailed descriptions of boats and life along the waterway. Tension builds gradually and is released at exact moments. Fans of Reeder's other books, especially Shades of Gray (Macmillan, 1989), are sure to appreciate this new offering.
Shawn Brommer, Southern Tier Library System, Painted Post, NY
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Shawn Brommer, Southern Tier Library System, Painted Post, NY
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
Gr. 6^-8. Twelve-year-old Kate has never accepted her mother's remarriage, nor has she welcomed her stepbrother Seth and stepsister Julia into the family. With her step-father fighting in the Civil War and her mother laid up with complications of pregnancy, Kate decides to take her family's coal boat down the C&O Canal with only Seth to help. On the dangerous journey, prickly Kate must confront her worst fears and the worst parts of her nature, while Seth slowly earns her respect. Though in the end, Kate begins to accept her new family, Reeder never minimizes the magnitude of the pain Kate endures, nor the pain she causes others as she makes her transition. Kate's interior change is mirrored in the canal boat trip, another difficult journey with many steps, secrets, discomforts, perils, and unexpected pleasures. The setting makes this an unusual Civil War story for young people; the characters make it a rewarding one. Carolyn Phelan
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
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This review is from: Captain Kate (An Avon Camelot Book) (Hardcover)
Twelve year old Kate has never gotten over her father's death two years ago or her mother's remarriage last year. She resents her new stepfather, stepsister, Julia, stepbrother, Seth, and the new baby Mama is expecting. Since Kate's stepfather is away fighting in the Civil War, Mama decides to rent the family's canal boat, since she feels to poorly to pilot it to Georgetown on the canal. Kate decides to take the boat herself; so with her stepbrother, she sets off. Can Kate and Seth manage to make the trip on their own? And can they manage to forget their grudges and work together
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