Customer Reviews

Freedom Beyond the Sea

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Sixteen-year-old Esther watched in horror as her father was led away to be burned at the stake. For the year was 1492, the place Spain, the Inquisition was determined to cleanse the country of all non-Christians, and Esther and her father were Jewish. Through a bribe, Esther obtains a place on the Santa Maria, under the alliance of Pedro, a Christian boy. Esther doesn't know where the ship is going and she doesn't care. All she wants is to get as far away from Spain as possible. At every moment, she fears that someone will discover that she is a Jew, a girl, or both. I had high expectations for this book, and was rather disappointed. The plot was paper thin at times, the characters cardboard cutouts, and the romance just made me queasy. It's not the very worst book I've ever read, but it isn't really any good, either.

A 16 year-old orphaned boy named Pedro is on the Santa Maria ship on a voyage to find a new route to India. He has signed on as a cabin boy with the expedition and hopes to find a new life outside of his home in Spain. But Pedro is hiding some dreadful secrets. One of those is that Pedro is the child of the Rabbi of Cordoba and is fleeing Spain, as are many other Jews, due to the Spanish Inquisition and the terrible decrees of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. Want to know another secret? Pedro is a really a girl named Esther.

Esther's father valued learning --- she can read and write Latin, unlike many of the other sailors. This knowledge earns her a job working as a personal servant for the admiral, Christopher Columbus. But Columbus is a hard master and particularly good at snooping out the lies and trickery in his crew. Now Esther/Pedro must be extremely careful. Will the crew members to find out her secrets and turn her in? Read this exciting book to find out!

I especially liked this book because right now we're learning about Christopher Columbus and other famous explorers in history class, and I think that they're interesting to learn about. FREEDOM BEYOND THE SEA was also very interesting as it gave lots of information about the ways Jews were treated in Europe long ago ---which up until now I didn't know anything about. Esther is a very strong girl character and a brave hero for anyone. FREEDOM BEYOND THE SEA is an exciting read because it is full of adventure and you know what is going to happen next!

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