If you know a kid who likes adventures on the high seas you might recommend The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi. Charlotte Doyle is a young girl, only thirteen, and is traveling from England to America by ship to meet the rest of her family who had traveled ahead while she finished her semester at school. While there were several other families that were supposed to travel with her onboard the Seahawk events conspired to have her be the only passenger as they set sail. When boarding the Seahawk, Charlotte becomes mildly uneasy about the trip after several sailors refuse to even go close to the ship but also refuse to explain why. This is furthered when she makes the acquaintance of Zachariah, the black man working the ship’s galley, who informs her that there may be trouble aboard due to the cruelty of the captain, Jaggery, and that she needs a method of defense. Though reluctant to do so, she accepts the knife he gives her but also informs the captain at their first meeting. Believing that no one of the captain’s social standing can possibly be as bad as described she decides to be wary of the crew instead, something later regretted.
I grabbed this book to read in part because I already enjoy Avi’s works but also in part because of the description. The idea that a thirteen year old girl can be successfully tried and convicted of murder is a little daunting I must admit. Naturally I was intrigued and had to read the book. The route the story took to get to that point was not even close to what I had expected but was still enjoyable nonetheless. While moderately familiar with the time frame of the story I was not overly familiar with life aboard ships and so found myself not knowing what to expect in how that would affect things. I did find myself liking the character of Charlotte though I did think she was rather sheltered and naive towards the beginning of the story. Luckily she grows out of that due to the course of events and she is a drastically different person by the end of the story in comparison to how she started out. One of the big things that I liked about this story is how it shows that social standing and class might have no bearing on a person’s actual character. This is heavily exemplified in both Captain Jaggery and in Zachariah who are opposite ends in terms of both standing and personality. Zachariah is the character perceived to be untrustworthy due to his standing but is ultimately the kinder and more trustworthy while Captain Jaggery was originally perceived to be the better man but ultimately proved otherwise. A very valuable lesson to be included in a kid’s story. I am happy giving this book 4.5 out of 5 stars.
A great work of children’s historical fiction from a great author so it would probably appeal the most to children who enjoy historical fiction, action and adventure, or are already a fan of Avi. I will state that death features in the story, as implied by the idea of Charlotte being tried for murder, but nothing that is graphic enough to make it unsuitable for children. While it can be read by older readers I am unsure how much appeal it would actually hold for them. You can easily tell it is aimed at younger readers just by reading it. A good book nonetheless that I would highly recommend for younger readers, though I must admit I would probably recommend any book by Avi. Well worth the read and I hope you will consider it. As always feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.