Customer Reviews

Wreckers 1 (High Seas Adventures)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Seventh grade English teacher here. I was looking for some extra reading to follow up a class read of Treasure Island. Although some of my students would have difficulty with the language in The Wreckers, I know many of them would love it. I was intrigued with the way Lawrence cast suspicion on all the characters so I didn't know who was trustworthy and who intended evil. In fact, I almost sneaked a peak at the end of the book because I was ao anxious to find out how the story ended. I'm planning to add this title to my classroom library.

Fifth grade teacher here: I read this on recommendation from another adult and I admit that the plot is tense, exciting and makes you want to read more! HOWEVER, there are long passages where a person could be discouraged by amount of sailing and seafaring terms that are foreign to the rest of us. There are sections where I just checked out -- I couldn't pick up what exactly was going on because there was too much technical lexicon -- I don't know what jibs, mizzens and such are. Another curious aspect of the author's craft is how he gives juicy description to locations, but rushes through extraordinary plot events. The moors are given paragraphs of description, yet in a blink of an eye a person is murdered and the characters move on. It was unsettling and made me re-read sections again to be sure I'd gotten it. Try this book if you like sailing, pirates, old sea stories. Be prepared for the difficult vocabulary. Not a good read aloud for kids without a lot of words in their lexicon.

"The Wreckers" is the first of a series of adventure books for "young people." I'm not a member of the "young people" set anymore, but I still found it an enjoyable read. The author sets the mood and sense of place very well. The locale and the action are easy to see in the reader's mind. In fact, the whole story provides excellent fodder for the imagination. But it's NOT pretty. This is some scary stuff. It could have been a little longer to explain things more thoroughly, but I can understand wanting to keep it clipped short to move things along. I suggest that if you buy it for your "young people" you sneak a peek at it yourself!

Many reviewers have commented that this is a good adventure book, but I did not see any reviews that noted that it is quite graphically violent. I used this book recently for a mother-son book group of 5th grade boys. Several of the boys noted that they found the book very disturbing in its graphic imagery -- murders, hangings, rats, etc. and felt that the book was less enjoyable because of it. I would issue a warning that this book is not suitable for young or sensitive children. It is an "easy read" aside from some tough vocabulary, but is very intense.

If you saw your rescuers drown a fellow sailor, would you trust them? That is exactly what John Spencer, a survivor of a mysterious shipwreck, wonders in the book 'The Wreckers'. As John enters the world of treachery, he finds that things aren't always what they seem. First of all, his true rescuer, Simon Mawgan, makes suspicious outings whenever a ship might be wrecked. This happens in many other homes in Pendennis, people getting ready for a shipwreck, getting ready to kill the survivors and plunder the ship. While he tries to solve the mystery of the mastermind behind all this, he also has the complication of finding his father. Will this determined fourteen-year-old defeat the wreckers, or will they defeat him?

Lawrence has written a remarkable tale that fascinates readers of all kinds and leaves you with characters hard to forget. It's treachery and justice make it exciting. 'The Wreckers' is an amazing story filled with mystery galore. This book is an adventure story packed with action and suspense, leaving you wanting for more.

~AD

*The two other books in the trilogy can't compare to this one. It leaves the other two FAR behind.

From sharp, rocky cliffs, to misleading lanterns, to a legless man, The Wreckers by Iain Lawrence is an exciting, heart stopping novel about trust and survival. John Spencer, his father, and his father's ship, The Isle of Skye, have wrecked on an un-mapped, mysterious island by supposedly misleading lanterns. While being hunted by vicious wreckers (who killed off the remains of his crew), John is on a quest to find his father who's being held captive by the legless man.

Simon Mawgan, a plump, wealthy character with unnatural mood swings who owns the land, and his brave, kind-hearted niece, Mary, take John in to help him survive. John, the main character, a semi-cowardly, suspicious, independent young man, has the ability to solve the mystery of the false beacons, but can he do it? Can use both his brain and his brawn?

Although the plot is a little predictable, it has strong voice and great description, especially when he describes his father's rotting foot. Ages ten and up for violence and shocking images.

This was a good book and very action packed. It is about a teenager named John who is on a ship with his father and the crew of the ship. One night, in a really hectic storm, the captain lost track of direction and didn't know where to go. Suddenly they saw a light meaning it was a harbor and was o.k. to dock their ship. Unfortunately it was not a harbor, but a rock-laden shore. It was too late to turn back, and the boat was torn apart on the rocks. When John woke up he was on a sandy shore. He saw some men walk past him to another survivor in the water. Then, instead of helping that man, they dunk his head in the water and drowned him. John starts to now wonder if the wreck was really an accident. To find out, read this great book by Iain Lawrence, The Wreckers.

If you're a fan of Treasure Island (and who isn't), you'll enjoy this book. As a YA novelist, I read a large number of books for ages 10-16, and this ranks among my top 5 fav for 1998. Lawrence starts with a great concept--the fact that people used to deliberately cause shipwrecks in order to pillage their cargo--and develops an exciting plot around it, with interesting characters. He keeps you guessing as to who is "good" and "evil" and doesn't resort to simplistic answers to that question. The book includes historical explanation on the practice of "wrecking". A sure thing for reluctant readers.

A Review by Kelsey
John Spencer doesn't want to sit at a little desk all day long as his job like his father does. So his rich father decides to take John on a ship with him, to learn how to become a sailor. Then, he figures John will realize how good sitting at a desk will be compared to most other jobs. They go on a ship that John's father owns, named Isle of Skye. In a huge storm, they see lights ahead and think it is a port, so the go towards the lights. Instead of getting there safely, they smash into some rocks called The Tombstones, where many other ships have sunk. Not knowing how to swim, John somehow manages to get to shore safely, where he sees men looking about for survivors. About to call to them for help, John stops as he sees them drowning one of his sailor friends. Running as fast as he can, he goes into a town on the coast of Cornwall, but little does he know he is not safe there, either.
Searching for his father, which a man named Stumps has chained somewhere, he has his new friend, named Mary, help him. Once he finds his father, John wants to get back to England as fast as possible for lost of people there are trying to kill him, since he is a survivor. With the help of Mary, can John save his father, stop more shipwrecks, find out who is lighting the false beacon lights, and get back to England without getting killed?
I think all of the characters in this book are good, but some are deceiving. They are mostly believable, except for some parts, such as the reason Simon wants to find the gold that John's father has is just because he has a temper. But other than that, they are great characters. The words were pretty easy, and probably anyone from 4th-11th grade would like it. This story at first seems scary, but then once you figure it all out it's more of an adventure. The plot was really good, but some spots were alittle bit confusing. But once you read on, everything will come together. I think the story would be better if it were longer, like if we knew John ever went back to Cornwall to visit Uncle Simon and Mary.
I think you should read this book if you are considering it, for it is very good. There is lots of suspense, action, and adventure, and you don't know what is going to happen next. You will be surprised at what some of the characters turn out to be, which makes it even better.

This is a book of excitement and adventure that you would never want to miss.It's about a boy named John who is wrecked on shore by false beacons. Sad thing is, is that he is the only survivor.Once he is helped by a stranger he meets a girl that will be his guide and best friend forthe rest of his stay on the English province. Then after everything that has happened he realizes that his father is missing. After meeting a man with no legs,the man tells John that he has his father captive. So this book turns around and in to a race against time to find John's father before John is forced out of the province and back home. After freeing his father they decide to help a ship that is beeing enticed by the Wreckers.It's a great story that everyone should read. It is all about friendship, trust, and the right thing to dobut most of the book is about cruelty from salvaging ships to looting and murder of others.