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JAN is 17 when he sails as a cabin boy from his home in The Netherlands for the South Land. Rosemary Hayes has taken the bones of a true story -- the wreck of the Batavia off the West Australian coast in 1629 -- and turned it into an adventure of mutiny, madness, disgrace and survival. Stranded with many of the ship's company on an island, Jan is dominated at first by the menacing leader Corneliez and commits atrocities at his command. The authorities catch up with them, but a curious redemption comes his way: he is exiled with another offender to the inhospitable mainland. Hayes gets the tone, pace and action just right. Jan's story is gripping. Straight on to the school readings lists for this one, and for the best possible reasons.
