5 stars
| I stumbled across a copy of this book in a Lending Library and thought it would be an interesting, quick read. From the start, I was instantly swept up in the story. The premise of the book is that a group of kids are put into a reform program in which they work on a ship that sets out into the Pacific Ocean. Based on the title, I was assuming things would progress more quickly, but I did enjoy the narration of the various jobs and parts of the ship as well as the lingo used. It was an interesting way to incorporate educational aspects into an adventure book. A storm hits and things don’t go as planned, which leads to some suspenseful moments. This book was very well-written. It was easy to get caught up in the story. With six kids as characters, I did have a slightly hard time keeping them all straight, especially the boys. However, the writing is amazing and I think young readers would really enjoy it. There is a lot of interesting information presented about survival tactics, shipwrecks, and marine animals (thanks mostly to Ian, the TV-addict), which added to the adventure qualities of the book to create a fascinating read. I enjoyed this book way more than I thought I would. As soon as I finished it, I immediately wanted to read the second one (sadly the Lending Library only had books one and three). My local library has an audiobook of the second book and I am looking forward to listening to it to find out what happens next. A great series to get lost in. Goodreads |