Sunrise over the Harbor (Children's Holiday Adventure Series) - Hardcover

Mandrell, Louise; Collins, Ace

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1565300408 ISBN 13: 9781565300408

Publisher: Summit Group

Synopsis

In 1814 Nathan Dunn, a ten-year-old cabin boy serving on an American ship, meets Francis Scott Key during the great naval battle at Fort McHenry

About this title

From School Library Journal:

Grade 1-3-A serviceable story about the writing of the "Star Spangled Banner." The year is 1814 and the setting is Baltimore harbor aboard a prisoner exchange vessel as the British begin their attack on Fort McHenry. Nathan Dunn, a young cabin boy and budding artist, is introduced to Francis Scott Key, who has arrived on board. Together they watch through the night as the battle rages. When an errant shell breaks the ship's mast and the flag is thrown into the sea, Nathan dives in to retrieve it. As morning breaks and it is clear that Baltimore has survived the attack, Key writes a poem about his impressions. The text is straightforward if unexciting, with an occasional melodramatic phrase to mar the flow. Youngsters will be interested to learn why Key was in the harbor that night and what might have motivated him to write what was to become our national anthem. Gale's oil paintings dramatize the rather simple narrative. This book is more a celebration of patriotism than an explanation of Independence Day, but it serves its purpose reasonably well.
Linda Greengrass, Bank Street College Library, New York City
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Summit Group
• ISBN 10: 1565300408
• ISBN 13: 9781565300408
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Gale Mark