Stowaway

October 30, 2000
Listeners set sail with 11-year-old Nicholas Young, a stowaway aboard Captain Cook's ship Endeavour, in this solid audiobook version of Hesse's period adventure. In a pleasant English accent, Cale smoothly reads the pages of Young's journal, chronicling a dangerous 1768-1771 voyage from England to an area south of New Zealand where Cook and his crew searched for a new continent. Despite his gaining passage illegally, Nick proves a worthy ship hand to Cook and his crew of 80-plus men, rising through the ranks to become the ship surgeon's assistant. Through Nick's innocent eyes, listeners explore exotic terrain, experience day-to-day life among seamen and face life-or-death situations generated by the unpredictable nature of weather, wind and water. Upon returning to England, after most of the crew has been lost to a typhoid breakout, Nick is emboldened, ready to face the difficult circumstances he first sought to escape by stowing away. The tone of discovery in Cale's voice buoys the proceedings, keeping listeners rapt. An afterword provides historical information about the real Nicholas Young and the Endeavour (though the recording does not include the handy glossary and ship's crew list and itinerary that are provided in the book). Ages 10-up.

Starred review from October 30, 2000
Sparkling with humor, poignancy and adventure, Newbery Medal-winner Hesse's (Out of the Dust) historical novel, told in diary form, was inspired by a real boy who stowed away aboard Captain James Cook's ship Endeavour on its 1768 voyage. The author bases the story on what little is known about 11-year-old Nicholas Young (he could read and write, for instance, and was made an official crew member in April 1769 when the ship reached Tahiti) and spins an imaginative tale firmly anchored in fact. The brief diary entries adhere to the ship's actual itinerary and detail Nick's adventures (and misadventures), among them his ongoing run-ins with a vindictive midshipman (also documented), the excitement and danger of rounding Cape Horn and the captain's disappointment in the view of Venus's transit across the sun (one of the main reasons for the voyage). Nick grows into young manhood irrevocably shaped by the three-year voyage, teaching an illiterate shipmate to read, befriending a Tahitian boy and witnessing cannibalism as well as a share of tragedy while helping to nurse a crew ravaged by accident and disease. His lively observations (on seasickness: "I can say now that Gentlemen heave the contents of their stomach same as eleven-year-old stowaways") keep the action sailing smoothly forward, while Hesse's impeccable research buttresses the narrative with a wealth of detail. A sprinkling of Parker's pen-and-ink illustrations adds an additional layer of texture, while an author's note and extensive glossary round out this compelling volume. Ages 10-14.

May 27, 2002

Inspired by a real boy who stowed away aboard Captain James Cook's ship Endeavor
on its 1768 voyage, this historical novel "sparkles with humor, poignancy and adventure," said PW
in a starred review. The author "keeps the action sailing smoothly forward, while impeccable research buttresses the narrative with a wealth of detail." Ages 10-14.