Customer Reviews

If Ever I Return Again

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Demas does a wonderful job of bringing twelve year old Celia back to life from the 1850's though her letters to her cousin about her trials and adventures on her father's whaling ship. Celia is a lively character, warm and loving but wilful. It is enjoyable to see the details of the whalers' struggles with the elements and their luck in the dangerous pursuit of their livelihood. The surprising conclusion to the book is satisfying.

The letters from Celia to Abigail brought out a clear view ofwhat was going on in Celia's life on the ship. The heart-warmingletters but intense plot kept me reading until the end. At some points, I would imagine myself as Celia, writing letters to my dear cousin Abigail while eagerly waiting to get home. And at other times, I would imagine myself as Abigail, reading them. This is a great book by a great author.

I really liked this book. It was a book you keep yourself hanging on. The only fault that I found with it was that Celia was a little too young to be so romance struck. I expected much less when I began reading. I guess it's one of those books that you are happy read!

In 1856, twelve-year-old Celia Snow leaves her little brother and a comfortable life in a small New England seaport village to join her father, a sea captain, and her mother on a whaling voyage that could last up to four or five years. Desperatley lonely on the monotanous journey, with whales few and far between, Celia writes long, detailed letters to her cousin Abigail, back home. She describes the daily routine of life on board a whaling ship, a stay on the beautiful Sandwich Islands (now Hawaii), where her mother's difficult pregnancy leads to the birth of a frail baby girl that does not live long, a whaling venture into the Arctic, a first love, and more, as she matures over two long, difficult years filled with hardship, illness, and even death. This book would most likely appeal to girls ages eleven and up who enjoy other historical stories such as the Dear America books. In addition, for another story about a young girl's experiances on a whaling voyage, take a look at Hurricane: Open Seas, 1844, written by Kathleen Duey and Karen A. Bale.

"If Ever I Return Again" felt like a very incomplete book. All the action was clumped at the end, at the end of a two-year voyage. To make it interesting, Celia should have drawn things on the letters she was sending to her cousin, Abigail - since she said she enjoyed drawing. The crewmembers were underdeveloped - we only heard about Mr. Grimes, Isaac, and Nate in great detail. Surely there must have been other men Celia conversed with on the ship, of interest? The relationship between Celia and her mother was very predictable and the mystery of Celia's father's first wife was not really a mystery. I wish there had been more colorful explanations of the ocean, whales, dolphins, the ship, and hurricane. I do not recommend.