The year is 1768. Nicholas Young's mind is made up. He's had enough! Enough of the cruel butcher to whom he is apprenticed and enough of his indifferent father lurking somewhere in the background of his existence. He's had enough of the squalor of his life in London. He's going to run away. But when he's stowed away on board a smallish ship he has no idea how famous this journey will be, one of the most famous journeys of discovery in maritime history. Three years it will take before he'll come back to London, three long years of adventure and hardship: an eleven-year-old boy among eighty tough-minded, seafaring men and under constant scrutiny from the gentlemen on board. There's midshipman Bootie who makes every day a living hell for Nick and John Ravenhill the drunken sail maker. But Dr. Monkhouse, the surgeon, and Mr Banks, the botanist stand up for their keen and gifted assistant and one by one Nick befriends the crew. So the journey progresses and the ship's company see places, people, sights, sounds and customs that no man has set eyes on ever before. There's fever, famine and drought; exotic plants, stunning wildlife, blistering heat and tremendous cold. The crew in turn marvel and shudder at what comes their way and not everyone makes the return journey home.
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About the Author
Karen Hesse writes with the skill of a great author. In Young Nick's Head she has mastered the language of eighteenth-century England and by so doing has encapsulated the sentiments of a young boy, his thoughts, fears, joys and his awe as he escapes into the unknown. In 1768, when creeping aboard Endeavour, Nick Young embarked on a journey he could never have imagined, so too today is the reader taken on his own voyage of discovery.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Mapping our land down under,
By A Customer
This review is from: Young Nick's Head (Paperback)
Karen Hesse has given our young people an insight into life aboard Endeavour during it's discoveries in the South Pacific. As a New Zealander i found the content of high interest, Hesse had me reaching for the atlas to see which of Cook's names had stood the test of time. The inclusion of comprehensive appendices added to the historical nature of this book with detailed records of Endeavours travels and crew. There were occasions where the book lost it's momentum. Great use of language which really helped set the scene. I enjoyed reading something of historical value to New Zealand, there is a lack of such material available.
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