The Adventures of Tommy Smith

by Robert Sutherland

On September 13, 1882, The S.S. Asia, dangerously overloaded with 100 or so passengers, crew and horses and cows, sailed from Ontario’s Collingwood harbour into a rising gale on Georgian Bay. Only two people survived the journey… But what if there was a third survivor? Tommy Smith is an orphan, working at the stables in Collingwood, Ontario. A bit of a mischievous boy, who sometimes steals to get warmer clothes, he witnesses the president of the shipping company, his henchman, and a shareholder arguing, an argument that results in the shareholder’s death. Unfortunately for Tommy, he is discovered. In his effort to get away from the president’s henchman, Harry Jones, he sneaks aboard the Asia. Tommy miraculously survives, and is found washed up on shore by two natives, who care for him for six months or so, before taking him to the town of Midland. There, Tommy reads the papers and discovers he is being blamed for the death of the shareholder and that he is also presumed dead. Under a new name, Tommy travels to Toronto and ends up joining a circus that needs help with some horses. There he is happy until Harry Jones chances upon him… Based on a true piece of Northern Ontario history, The Adventures of Tommy Smith will engage the middle grade reader and pull them into this enticing, rip-roaring tale of courage, mischief and fun.

183 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Robert Sutherland is one of Canada's most successful YA novelists, having already published 13 novels. He has received numerous nominations and prizes for his fiction. His novels have been translated into French, Norwegian, Swedish, German and Korean. "Survivor's Leave" developed from his experience during WWII when he served as an anti-aircraft gunner on a Loch Class frigate (HMCS Loch Morlich). When his ship was in dry dock in London for repairs, he experienced the German V-1 bombing.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is between three and four stars for me. But I considered:
>I am way outside the target audience but still enjoyed the read
>I really did enjoy the read
>I found myself caring about what happened to Tommy Smith and his friends, and even the horse, which says a lot about the book.

It took me a bit of time to get into the book but I am glad that I stuck with it. The plot is also a series of 'well, wasn't that a coincidence' events, but I think if I were closer to the target audience that factor would have been less noticeable/irritating to me. However, overall the book provided an interesting, entertaining read. I liked the characters that I was supposed to like and hiss-booed the bad guys along the way. I think Sutherland did a solid job of wrapping it all up (in a hard-boiler rather than cozy-read type of way but I prefer the former to the latter anyway).

I will look up other work by this author.