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American Girl: Caroline #1-3
Captain of the Ship: A Caroline Classic Volume 1
Caroline Abbott loves sailing on Lake Ontario with her father, a master shipbuilder. But when the War of 1812 breaks out, Caroline’s father is taken prisoner, and everything changes. When Sackets Harbor is under attack, Caroline makes an exceptional sacrifice to defend it. She’s determined to make her father proud by staying steady and helpful at home. Then she goes on a risky voyage to deliver a secret message to her father. But will her message help him to escape?
227 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 28, 2014
13 people are currently reading
161 people want to read
About the author
Kathleen Ernst
57 books382 followersI grew up in Maryland, in a house full of books! Both of my parents were avid readers, thank goodness. Before we traveled to a new area, my librarian-mom used to bring home historical novels set in that place. It was a great way to get excited about history.
I began writing stories when I was maybe 10 or 11. At 15 I wrote my first novel; I sold my first novel to a publisher 20 years later! Writing was my hobby, so during those two decades I just kept practicing, reading, writing some more. What a thrill to finally hold my first book in my hand! Still, I write because I enjoy the process (at least most of the time).
For years I wrote while working at other day jobs. I spent 12 years working at a huge historic site, which was a perfect spot for someone interested in historical fiction. I also developed and scripted instructional videos for public television. Finally, though, it got to be too much to juggle. I now write full-time, and consider myself enormously fortunate to do something I love.
I began writing stories when I was maybe 10 or 11. At 15 I wrote my first novel; I sold my first novel to a publisher 20 years later! Writing was my hobby, so during those two decades I just kept practicing, reading, writing some more. What a thrill to finally hold my first book in my hand! Still, I write because I enjoy the process (at least most of the time).
For years I wrote while working at other day jobs. I spent 12 years working at a huge historic site, which was a perfect spot for someone interested in historical fiction. I also developed and scripted instructional videos for public television. Finally, though, it got to be too much to juggle. I now write full-time, and consider myself enormously fortunate to do something I love.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
February 19, 2023
This book is a combination of the first three books and follows Caroline, whose father is taken prisoner when the War of 1812 breaks out.
Caroline learns many lessons throughout the book about herself that just seems like a way to teach young girls about kindness. It’s pandered to you and the writing isn’t interesting enough to overcompensate with the story itself. This wasn’t bad, there was just nothing special about it. Caroline is not a very likable character and the other side characters have cardboard cutout personalities.
Caroline learns many lessons throughout the book about herself that just seems like a way to teach young girls about kindness. It’s pandered to you and the writing isn’t interesting enough to overcompensate with the story itself. This wasn’t bad, there was just nothing special about it. Caroline is not a very likable character and the other side characters have cardboard cutout personalities.
August 21, 2015
I thought it was a god book. Caroline's father was taken captive during a war and Caroline will do anything to set him free, even going on a dangerous and risky voyage to bring him a secret, helpful map, which will help him find his way back home. This is a good book to read because it is about a girl in the 18 hundreds so it is historic and fictional at the same time.
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January 15, 2015It's mainly about a girl named Caroline. She's one of my dolls not the book the doll. I got it for Christmas. She's historical. I have the girl of the year from 2014 Isabelle. I also have one of the babies. She looses her father from the British.
September 28, 2017
i love this book
June 25, 2022
I really liked this story. I think Caroline is a very likable character. She is as much of a tomboy as a girl can be in 1812, loving the outdoors and dreaming of being the captain of a ship. She also has very realistic struggles with peers, feelings of anger and jealousy, and a desire to fit in. I think any girl could relate to her character.
February 25, 2015
This was a fun book, Caroline is so adventurous. And brave too! It almost feels like you are with her. the thing that surprised me most, was that you could have carpet in you room, for an expensive price of course!
March 7, 2022
I would have rated it ten stars if I could.
It was fun how Caroline was able to go to Kingston during the war to see her father. She was able to find a way for all three of her friends to have a fun time on the ice.
It was fun how Caroline was able to go to Kingston during the war to see her father. She was able to find a way for all three of her friends to have a fun time on the ice.
December 12, 2021
I read this book in November but forgot to add it. I read it in 3rd grade and loved it. Now I am more of a more mature reader so I didn’t find it as good
January 18, 2025
From my History of Children's Literature class:
Despite their popularity—even during my own childhood—I had never read an American Girl book before this assignment. I chose one of what I thought were the newer titles, though after a little Googling, I found that the book I read—Captain of the Ship: A Classic Featuring Caroline—is actually just a compilation of the first three of the original Caroline series. The books is written by Kathleen Ernst, and were individually published in 2012, though this compilation was published in 2014. The book—like the majority of the new American Girl books I have seen come into the library—has “Beforever” stamped largely across the top of the cover, and I had thought that this “Beforever” series was a new line of stories. I have since learned that “Beforever” is just the company’s rebranding of the original, historical American Girl characters. Each of these characters, rather than having six books about them, now has two “classics,” each composed of three of their original six stories, and an added choose-your-own-adventure-type title to accompany them. It sounds like the Beforever rebranding helps to distinguish these historical American Girl stories from the Girl of the Year stories, Bitty Baby stories, etc. that the company also publishes. I just hope there have been no disappointed fans, excited to see a new, lengthy book about their favorite character, only to discover that it is the same stories they have already read, repackaged!
I must admit that I was a bit cynical going into this book. I am a lover of series books, but knowing how strongly the company markets their dolls, I expected a somewhat shallow story that was written purely to increase doll sales. I expected a large focus on the clothing of the time period—what better way to drum up purchases of all of the dolls’ outfits?—and perhaps some sensationalized adventures for the character.
I stand corrected. I was blown away by how solid this story actually was, and how many different issues it explored. The book is centered on Caroline, who loves spending time with her shipbuilder father, exploring Lake Ontario in 1812. The War of 1812 begins, and news has yet to travel to Caroline’s town, when the sloop she is sailing on with her father and two cousins is captured by the British. Caroline and her female cousin are returned safely to their homes, but Caroline’s father and male cousin are taken prisoner, and the sloop captured by the British. The rest of the story centers on how Caroline and her mother and grandmother try to keep living their normal lives (with issues like making friends, dealing with the weather, etc.), in the face of the father’s imprisonment, and the war that begins to literally batter the shores of their town.
I must say that I loved the female characters in this book. Caroline dreams of becoming captain of her own boat someday, and spends a great deal of time learning knot-tying, and ship-building skills from her father. Yet she also loves embroidery, and spends part of the book trying to learn how to cook, and do household chores as well. It would have been so easy to make Caroline into a purely domestic young lady, and leave her at that, telling the story of how a girl in 1812 helped keep the household going during a war. Or, in contrast, she could have been the typical “strong female character” who despises womanly tasks, and scorns her domestic mother, to spend her time wearing men’s clothes and learning sailing techniques. While some would say this is better, I would argue that that character would have been just as flat. Instead, I was blown away to see a character who was so real. She has real struggles and flaws, but she worked to fix them, and she effectively defies any sort of gender stereotypes, and—in 1812, no less—embraces her desires and talents with little regard for traditional gender roles.
Even more impressive than Caroline is her mother! This woman manages to take over her husband’s ship-building business, continue to run her household, find time to teach three tweens arithmetic, throw birthday and holiday parties, be an engaged mother, and sail a boat behind enemy lines to ask a British officer for her husband’s freedom. She always speaks to men as if they are equals, and puts an American military officer in his place when he asks if her husband has a lawyer that he could talk to about commissioning the family’s ship-building business. This has to be the single most capable literary mom I have ever encountered. I do wonder if she was a bit too extreme to be real in 1812, but then I remember how capable pioneer women were, only a few decades later, and I think that maybe women like her did exist. What was probably a bit unrealistic was how relaxed all of the men in the story were with her. I am not sure that all of the men of 1812 would have appreciated how empowered this mom was, and I imagine that—rather than all of them just accepting her as an equal—some of the men might have been a bit more angry or snide with her. Nearly everyone in this story was unfailing polite.
I heartily enjoyed this story, and am rather ashamed of my cynicism going into it. While the writing was not the best I have seen, it was certainly far from the worst, and flowed well, with a lot of good vocabulary. I think it is quite empowering for girl readers, and I love how it doesn’t embrace traditional gender roles unthinkingly, but it also doesn’t just rebel against them for the sake of rebellion. Rather than perpetuating gender roles by either playing into them, or choosing the exact opposite, it allows the characters—and by extension, the readers—to choose aspects from both sides of the traditional separation, and encourages finding one’s passions, whatever they may be. I love that it is portrayed as perfectly normal in this book to love sewing and sailing, to run a household and run a business. I am not an expert on the War of 1812, so I can’t speak much to the historical accuracy of the book, but what I do know seemed to jive with what was portrayed in the book, and I can imagine that Caroline’s stories would lead curious readers to seek out more information about that time period in history. I think this story really has a lot to recommend it, and never again will I judge an American Girl book by its doll…
Despite their popularity—even during my own childhood—I had never read an American Girl book before this assignment. I chose one of what I thought were the newer titles, though after a little Googling, I found that the book I read—Captain of the Ship: A Classic Featuring Caroline—is actually just a compilation of the first three of the original Caroline series. The books is written by Kathleen Ernst, and were individually published in 2012, though this compilation was published in 2014. The book—like the majority of the new American Girl books I have seen come into the library—has “Beforever” stamped largely across the top of the cover, and I had thought that this “Beforever” series was a new line of stories. I have since learned that “Beforever” is just the company’s rebranding of the original, historical American Girl characters. Each of these characters, rather than having six books about them, now has two “classics,” each composed of three of their original six stories, and an added choose-your-own-adventure-type title to accompany them. It sounds like the Beforever rebranding helps to distinguish these historical American Girl stories from the Girl of the Year stories, Bitty Baby stories, etc. that the company also publishes. I just hope there have been no disappointed fans, excited to see a new, lengthy book about their favorite character, only to discover that it is the same stories they have already read, repackaged!
I must admit that I was a bit cynical going into this book. I am a lover of series books, but knowing how strongly the company markets their dolls, I expected a somewhat shallow story that was written purely to increase doll sales. I expected a large focus on the clothing of the time period—what better way to drum up purchases of all of the dolls’ outfits?—and perhaps some sensationalized adventures for the character.
I stand corrected. I was blown away by how solid this story actually was, and how many different issues it explored. The book is centered on Caroline, who loves spending time with her shipbuilder father, exploring Lake Ontario in 1812. The War of 1812 begins, and news has yet to travel to Caroline’s town, when the sloop she is sailing on with her father and two cousins is captured by the British. Caroline and her female cousin are returned safely to their homes, but Caroline’s father and male cousin are taken prisoner, and the sloop captured by the British. The rest of the story centers on how Caroline and her mother and grandmother try to keep living their normal lives (with issues like making friends, dealing with the weather, etc.), in the face of the father’s imprisonment, and the war that begins to literally batter the shores of their town.
I must say that I loved the female characters in this book. Caroline dreams of becoming captain of her own boat someday, and spends a great deal of time learning knot-tying, and ship-building skills from her father. Yet she also loves embroidery, and spends part of the book trying to learn how to cook, and do household chores as well. It would have been so easy to make Caroline into a purely domestic young lady, and leave her at that, telling the story of how a girl in 1812 helped keep the household going during a war. Or, in contrast, she could have been the typical “strong female character” who despises womanly tasks, and scorns her domestic mother, to spend her time wearing men’s clothes and learning sailing techniques. While some would say this is better, I would argue that that character would have been just as flat. Instead, I was blown away to see a character who was so real. She has real struggles and flaws, but she worked to fix them, and she effectively defies any sort of gender stereotypes, and—in 1812, no less—embraces her desires and talents with little regard for traditional gender roles.
Even more impressive than Caroline is her mother! This woman manages to take over her husband’s ship-building business, continue to run her household, find time to teach three tweens arithmetic, throw birthday and holiday parties, be an engaged mother, and sail a boat behind enemy lines to ask a British officer for her husband’s freedom. She always speaks to men as if they are equals, and puts an American military officer in his place when he asks if her husband has a lawyer that he could talk to about commissioning the family’s ship-building business. This has to be the single most capable literary mom I have ever encountered. I do wonder if she was a bit too extreme to be real in 1812, but then I remember how capable pioneer women were, only a few decades later, and I think that maybe women like her did exist. What was probably a bit unrealistic was how relaxed all of the men in the story were with her. I am not sure that all of the men of 1812 would have appreciated how empowered this mom was, and I imagine that—rather than all of them just accepting her as an equal—some of the men might have been a bit more angry or snide with her. Nearly everyone in this story was unfailing polite.
I heartily enjoyed this story, and am rather ashamed of my cynicism going into it. While the writing was not the best I have seen, it was certainly far from the worst, and flowed well, with a lot of good vocabulary. I think it is quite empowering for girl readers, and I love how it doesn’t embrace traditional gender roles unthinkingly, but it also doesn’t just rebel against them for the sake of rebellion. Rather than perpetuating gender roles by either playing into them, or choosing the exact opposite, it allows the characters—and by extension, the readers—to choose aspects from both sides of the traditional separation, and encourages finding one’s passions, whatever they may be. I love that it is portrayed as perfectly normal in this book to love sewing and sailing, to run a household and run a business. I am not an expert on the War of 1812, so I can’t speak much to the historical accuracy of the book, but what I do know seemed to jive with what was portrayed in the book, and I can imagine that Caroline’s stories would lead curious readers to seek out more information about that time period in history. I think this story really has a lot to recommend it, and never again will I judge an American Girl book by its doll…
August 11, 2020
This is a book about
1. The Great Lakes
2. Difficult separations
3. How EMBROIDERY is cool and can even save the day!
4. How winter is cool
5. How ice skating is fun
6. How patience is hard
7. Working hard doing every day tasks being important even though it doesn't feel important
8. Regency fashion and naval battles #essenceofPersuasion
So, um, yeah, I'm not sure if Caroline would have been my favorite had she been around during my childhood, but she might be today. I mean, her birthday dress is a gorgeous blue number, and she gets excited by gingerbread and embroidery floss. What more could a Katie want!
1. The Great Lakes
2. Difficult separations
3. How EMBROIDERY is cool and can even save the day!
4. How winter is cool
5. How ice skating is fun
6. How patience is hard
7. Working hard doing every day tasks being important even though it doesn't feel important
8. Regency fashion and naval battles #essenceofPersuasion
So, um, yeah, I'm not sure if Caroline would have been my favorite had she been around during my childhood, but she might be today. I mean, her birthday dress is a gorgeous blue number, and she gets excited by gingerbread and embroidery floss. What more could a Katie want!
January 30, 2021
I loved lake Ontario. I really saw that decade as a nice simple timing, so beautiful that it got me wanting to live there. The simplicity between all details was just enough for little Caroline. she was a very determined person. i loved her creative thinling and her special kindness. she was adventurous, eager to travel around. she had been a great person trying her best. i loved her glowey soul that was excited to help everybody.
the cold and warmth, the ice and sun, the lakes and shores, the ship sailing alongside the lake, and that dominance of innocence along the book, a book worth reading.
the cold and warmth, the ice and sun, the lakes and shores, the ship sailing alongside the lake, and that dominance of innocence along the book, a book worth reading.
July 11, 2020
So as this is the first three of the original six books combined, you can tell when one story ends and the next begins. That being said, they are kinda disconnected. I have no clue why the last story is important. The first two make total sense and flow well together and focus on the war. The last one is just about friendship and feels left out and awkward. Not the best.
January 15, 2025
Very nice story. Learning a bit more about the War of 1812 since I don't recall much of it from my earlier years. I realize this is a younger reader's book, but it was given to me by a good friend and I want to read it. It's still a good one for re-learning history.
May 21, 2017
This is my 4th grade sister's review: "I loved it very much! There were exciting parts and shocking parts and sad parts! The whole book was interesting and awesome! I rate it 5 stars!
January 20, 2022
Books 1-3 in one volume. Without the beautiful illustrations
February 22, 2022
A good set of stories featuring Caroline during the War of 1812 and her heroic adventures to protect her family and friends.
July 18, 2024
Loved the history woven into the pages.
October 5, 2019
This book is a compilation of the first three books in the Caroline series. While the story remains the same, the illustrations and much of the historical facts have been omitted.
March 29, 2024
I don't remember much of the plot of this book but I do know that I read it so much when I was a kid so its in my favorites for nostalgic purpose only.
April 25, 2017
ETA 4/25/17:
Huh. Thought I marked down that finished reading this, ages ago. I'll do that now.
I don't feel like writing a review on it, at least not now. I really enjoyed this, though. Good storytelling.
~5/12/15~
(4/25/17 - No, it's not really a spoiler. Just so much there I want to condense it, until I decide if I want to remove it.)
Huh. Thought I marked down that finished reading this, ages ago. I'll do that now.
I don't feel like writing a review on it, at least not now. I really enjoyed this, though. Good storytelling.
~5/12/15~
(4/25/17 - No, it's not really a spoiler. Just so much there I want to condense it, until I decide if I want to remove it.)
June 25, 2016
I read the whole series of the book. It was about, Caroline Abbot love sailing on Lake Ontario with her father, a master shipbuilder. But when the war of 1812 breaks out, the British take Papa prison. Caroline tries to help mama keep the family shipyard running and pitches it to defend her village. Above all, she is determined to help papa escape-even if it means a dangerous trip to the enemy fort. As Christmas approaches, Caroline struggles to stay steady without her papa. Well rash decision put her and her friends on thin ice?
January 28, 2016
This book was just ok for me. My 6 year old daughter wanted to read it when she got the Caroline American Girl doll, but was fairly bored with the story. I felt like the main character, though likeable, was very whiney and the story fairly stalled out a couple times. We were also disappointed that the main "conflict" in the story was not resolved by the end of the book...you have to read other books for the conclusion.
October 1, 2015
I love Caroline, can't stand Rhonda, and loathe her grandmother, but that was a lot of fun.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews