The Wanderer - Softcover

Creech, Sharon

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0330392921 ISBN 13: 9780330392921

Publisher: Macmillan, 2001

Synopsis

The ocean has always flowed through Sophie's life. It promises journeys of adventure and discovery and she is drawn to it. And when she gets the chance to cross the Atlantic on board her uncle's boat, The Wanderer, she can't wait to set sail. But troubled Sophie has a secret, and deep down she's terrified of where, The Wanderer will take her. For this storm-tossed voyage will also be a journey into the mysterious past of her forgotten childhood. And she, and the rest of the crew aboard, may not survive it.

About this title

Review:

"I am not always such a dreamy girl, listening to the sea calling me. My father calls me Three-sided Sophie: one side is dreamy and romantic; one is logical and down-to-earth; and the third side is hardheaded and impulsive."

Thirteen-year-old Sophie, skipping between "dreamland or earthland or muleland," hears the sea calling her. Much to the concern of her adopted parents, she decides to join her uncles and male cousins on a sailing voyage from Connecticut across the Atlantic to England (and her grandfather Bompie) on a 45-foot sailboat. Not only does she want to make the trip, she feels she has to.

This perilous cross-Atlantic journey will make young readers feel the wind in their hair and the salt spray on their face. Newbery Medal winner Sharon Creech (Walk Two Moons) describes the sailing experience with astonishing precision--from the smell of the sea to the intricate workings of The Wanderer itself.

Along the way, Sophie proves her bravery and competence to the rather grumpy all-male crew; intrigues and captivates her cousin Cody with her beautiful, odd stories of Bompie that always somehow end in underwater disaster and apple pie; and spills her heart into a daily journal. Readers get another angle on her, too, as Cody keeps a log that alternates with hers. He grows to know, and like, and wonder about, his new cousin Sophie along with the reader, and as her mysterious past reveals itself bit by bit, we are all right there on the edge of our seats, ready for the boom to crash over to the other side.

Sophie's adventures take her not only straight into perilous waves higher than buildings, but deep into her hidden past. This profound, suspenseful novel will pull you into its swift current and barely let you surface for breath. (Ages 9 to 13) --Karin Snelson

From the Inside Flap:

Read by John Beach and Dana Lubotsky
4 hours 18 minutes, 3 cassettes

Thirteen-year-old Sophie is the only girl among the surly crew of her three uncles and two bothersome cousins on a small sailboat bound for England to see her Grandpa Bompie. Through Sophie's and cousin Cody's travel logs, the amazing experiences of these six wanderers and their perilous journey unfold. For Sophie, the true journey is into her past ? as she unlocks the pain she has been hiding from herself and learns that she does truly belong to a family.

About this edition

• Publisher: Macmillan
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0330392921
• ISBN 13: 9780330392921
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240