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33rd out of 36 books
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11 voters
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Stowaway
by
Karen Hesse
It is known that in the summer of 1768, Captain James Cook sailed from England on H.M.S "Endeavour, " beginning a three-year voyage around the world on a secret mission to discover an unknown continent at the bottom of the globe. What is less known is that a boy by the name of Nicholas Young was a stowaway on that ship.
Newbery winner Karen Hesse re-creates Cook
...morePaperback, 320 pages
Published
June 1st 2002
by Aladdin
(first published April 1st 2000)
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"This afternoon, at last, we weighed anchor. Now there are new sounds to join with the others. The wind clapping the sails, the men singing out in the rigging, the water churned by Endeavour's prow. Fine sounds. Sailing sounds."
The first thing I did this year was travel around the globe. With the help, of course, of author Karen Hesse who penned this excellent and educational young adult novel about the expedition of Captain Cook and his crew between 1768-1771.
The n...more
The first thing I did this year was travel around the globe. With the help, of course, of author Karen Hesse who penned this excellent and educational young adult novel about the expedition of Captain Cook and his crew between 1768-1771.
The n...more
I have to give this book 4 stars simply because I'm amazed at the amount of research that must have been undertaken to write such a book. In the Afterward we are told which events in this book were taken directly from the logs of other true life diaries of this voyage. Be sure to read the Afterward.
This is somewhat dry reading at times as it is written in diary form and lacked detailed descriptions to help you envision the scene. It takes a few pages to get a flow, but you are s...more
This is somewhat dry reading at times as it is written in diary form and lacked detailed descriptions to help you envision the scene. It takes a few pages to get a flow, but you are s...more
Stowaway reminded me of author Karen
Hesse's book, Out of the Dust, in a
couple of ways. Both had young teen
main characters with one parent who
died and one parent who didn't handle
single parenting well. Both characters
are forced to handle big adult issues
(the suffering and death of loved one...more
Hesse's book, Out of the Dust, in a
couple of ways. Both had young teen
main characters with one parent who
died and one parent who didn't handle
single parenting well. Both characters
are forced to handle big adult issues
(the suffering and death of loved one...more
I very pleasant surprise. I read and enjoyed Out of the Dust, so thought I'd give this one a try. It is an excellent YA book, yet was mature enough to keep me turning the pages.
The story follows Nick who stows away aboard Captain Cook's famous circumnavigating voyage at the age of 12. I was impressed with Hesse's research, since the facts of Nick's age and presence on the ship are historically accurate. His journal is fiction, but follows the events in the ship's log (down to longitude an...more
The story follows Nick who stows away aboard Captain Cook's famous circumnavigating voyage at the age of 12. I was impressed with Hesse's research, since the facts of Nick's age and presence on the ship are historically accurate. His journal is fiction, but follows the events in the ship's log (down to longitude an...more
I loved Hesse's "Out of the Dust", written as a series of poems. This book was different: it is a series of journal entries from an eleven year old boy who stows away on Captain Cook's ship and is part of the voyage around the world. I found the book interesting because I love history and I enjoyed seeing how Nick changed over the years of the voyage, but the story did seem rather slow, especially for young readers. I don't think a lot of middle schoolers would have the perseveranc...more
One drawback to reading the books assigned by my daughter's curriculum is that I start to get bored with reading about the same events or the same settings. A few months back I had gotten my fill of Leonardo da Vinci, Queen Elizabeth I and the whole Renaissance. These days, as my daughter studies the age of exploration and colonization, I'm starting to tire of reading accounts of ocean voyages. If I read about seasickness, scurvy and wormy biscuits too many more times, I'm going to have to start...more
An eleven year old boy pays three seamen to sneak him onto a boat that is traveling to The New World. After a while, it becomes difficult to stay concealed as he becomes sick. When he is discovered, he becomes a worker on the ship, retelling his voyage in the style of a journal.
I would use this book to help with mapping skills. Students could map out the journey that the Endeavor took to The New World and back. This would also work with a time line.
I would use this book to help with mapping skills. Students could map out the journey that the Endeavor took to The New World and back. This would also work with a time line.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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This is an adventures book that follows the journal of Nicholas Young who flees his abusive teacher and becomes a stowaway on a ship called the Endeavor. Nicholas tells in his journal about his day to day travels on the sea, he tells of bad storms, and he talks about the peoples of the lands they visit. This is book was a little slow for me, but it can be a good source to use in a classroom when learning about the sea and famous explorers.
It seemed like this book dragged on and on. It's not good for a teenage girl, although I am not sure how a boy would like it. I don't usually stop reading books, so I read until the end for this one. When there were about 100 pages left in the book, I started counting down the pages and couldn't wait until I finished it so that I could stop reading the garbage. Overall rating of the book: BORING!!!
Hesse makes history so alive in this fictionalized journal based on the voyages of Capt. Cook and his sail 'round the world that you can practically smell the salt air. Whether readers are drawn by the natural history, the adventure, or the diary format, all will become quickly immersed in this richly detailed story about a stowaway on a fantastic voyage.
I first read it in 5th grade over winter break for a grade and had to answer a whole packet of questions. It was a lot of fun to read because of the detail and the accurate descriptionns and format that made it seem like Nicholas was actually on the expedition. It is still a nice semi- easy read that captures my imagination and explorer fantasy.
This was more master and commander than pirates of the carribean. It was told in a journal entry type reading. If I hadn't been listening to it on CD I don't know if I would have finished. Sailing is a rough and hard life. It was a good story and did have moments of excitement but overall was just a narrative that didn't really keep me.
Again, looking for history read-alouds. This story chronicles Capatin Cook's first voyage to Australia and New Zealand. It was well written and interesting, but a little too gory in spots for a read-aloud. Not that life on a ship back then was pretty... I did enjoy following the history of it, especially because it was in the New Guinea area.
Carrie
rated it
I felt like I was missing the background on this. Like, if I had done as much research on Captain Cook's voyages as the author clearly did, I would have enjoyed the way she retold it from the POV of an eleven year old.
But, I know nothing about Captain Cook, other than he spent a lot of time sailing the Pacific, so most of the details went right over my head.
Karen Hesse's stuff is usually great on audiobook, but this was tedious. The repetition of the dates and locati...more
But, I know nothing about Captain Cook, other than he spent a lot of time sailing the Pacific, so most of the details went right over my head.
Karen Hesse's stuff is usually great on audiobook, but this was tedious. The repetition of the dates and locati...more
Callie Risse
rated it
This is a diary entry book from the perspective of an 11 year-old boy who was able to sneak onto a ship voyaging to the New World. Though some may find this book interesting and even exciting, I found it to be slow and boring most of the time. I have trouble believing that kids would be excited to read this book.
Is a little more on the historical side of historical fiction (ie, gets kind of boring) but really educational. I thought it was neat how the people on the boat noticed small miracles that helped them get home safely and the author wasn't afraid to let them attribute those to God. It made it inspirational.
Stowaway was really good. It started very boring but then you got pulled you into the book. The book made you feel on the boat in the middle of the pacific ocean looking for India. The book was a journal but it flooded together. The book was very serious but it was funny in some parts. I would recommend that you read it.
Really enjoyed this but might have found it a tad less confusing if I'd been reading with a world map in front of me rather than listening to the audio in my car. Very descriptive and certainly never boring. An afterword gave the known facts about Cook as well as the book's main character.
Stowaway was slow at times but if you like adventure stories (particularly taking place on a boat) then you'll love this. The way Hesse writes makes it seem like an actual journal written by an actual boy. Her factual style and young-boy personification makes it even more enjoyable.
I could hardly keep this book in my hands. It is very boring and only at parts does it pick up (cannibalism, whippings, etc.) About a boy who stows away on a ship called the Endeavor. Book is written as the boys journal.
Wow, good book. Umm... learned a lot about sailing terms. This is probably the best historical fiction book I have ever read. About a boy named Nicholas that stows away on Endeavor and is found. He becomes an able-bodied sailer.
Bonnie Gayle
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
fans of books in diary format, and fans of the exploration age
This is the fictional diary of an 11 year old boy who really stowed away on Captain Cook's world exploration voyage. They sailed around the coast of South America, to Tahiti, New Zealand, they were the first to sail the east coast of Australia, and sailed around Cape Horn back to England.
This was adventuresome and exciting reading with close calls and disasters. It did drag in some parts though.
I would definitely recommend it for an older reader because there is a lot about hunting...more
This was adventuresome and exciting reading with close calls and disasters. It did drag in some parts though.
I would definitely recommend it for an older reader because there is a lot about hunting...more
I read this book because it is by Karen Hesse, who is a good writer. This book was in diary form, and it was hard to sustain my interest. It is about the voyage by Captain Cook when he discovered australia.
Jenna
added it
this book was ok i think that although it was a diary they could have talked a little bit more about the boys life before he got on the ship just to help people out but hey, its a book haha
I remember trying to read this in high school and barely making it through because the book was so dull. I guess I need to re-read it, but for now I'll just say "didn't like it."
I love the adventure in this book. I enjoyed the development of the main character. It is the story I dreamed as a young girl of sailing, work and freedom.
Sometimes slow, sometimes sad, and sometimes rather intriguing historical fiction of a young boy who stowed away on Captain Cook's trip around the world.
The character is based on a real boy who showed up on the ship's register months after the ship left England. Hesse filled in how the boy may have stowed away, with help, on the ship Endeavor. It is surmised, by the one thing he wrote in a fellow shipmate's journal, that the boy was rather well educated. From what little was known...more
The character is based on a real boy who showed up on the ship's register months after the ship left England. Hesse filled in how the boy may have stowed away, with help, on the ship Endeavor. It is surmised, by the one thing he wrote in a fellow shipmate's journal, that the boy was rather well educated. From what little was known...more
I thought it was a pretty good book. I don't know why he would stowaway on a ship and risk being killed, but otherwise, it was really good.
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This book was interesting in the sense of living on a boat in 1770 and what the early explorers went through, but sometimes a bit boring.
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Karen Hesse is an American author of children's literature and literature for young adults, often with historical settings. Her novel Out of the Dust was the winner of the 1998 Newbery Medal and the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction. In 2002, Hesse was a recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship.
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