From School Library Journal
Grade 6-8-After his father drowns at sea, 12-year-old Henry's poverty-stricken Irish family leaves Cork for the busy seaport of Liverpool. Henry works as a shipping-firm clerk and dreams of going to sea, but his mother is firmly opposed to the notion. When his company commissions a new blockade-runner specifically designed to trade with the rebellious Confederate states, Henry gets his chance. He signs on as ship's boy on the Banshee, which dodges Yankee gunboats on its sail to the Confederate port of Wilmington, NC. They make profitable runs, but Henry loses two friends during the voyages-a boy who succumbs to yellow fever and the cook, who is swept overboard. After being captured by the Union navy, the crew languishes in a New York prison, where Henry is fortuitously rescued by his aunt and he joins the Union navy. The boy's adventures are based on the actual events of the real Banshee, but unfortunately the author failed to prune the results of his considerable historical research. Henry has so many experiences in such a brief time that the end result is contrived plotting and shallow character development that weaken an otherwise readable story.
Patricia B. McGee, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Gr. 5-8. Wisler has made a name for himself with his accurate, well-researched historical fiction featuring young people embroiled in the American Civil War. His latest novel may surprise readers by opening in Ireland rather than the war-torn U.S. Henry Severn's father has just died at sea. Help for the destitute family comes from Cousin Robert, employed by a shipping firm in Liverpool. Aboard the firm's swift, innovative steamship,
Banshee, Robert will sail to Nassau, and from there try to break through the Union ships blockading Confederate ports in America with needed supplies. Fourteen-year-old Henry joins the crew and relates what happens at the ports and aboard ship as the
Banshee perseveres until she is captured. The story is episodic and somewhat predictable, and the two girls Henry meets ashore come across as token female spokespersons. The blockade, however, gets a dramatic presentation children can relate to, and the focus on commerce as opposed to politics is unusual. Give this to children who enjoy a good sea story as well as to Civil War enthusiasts.
Catherine AndronikCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
