Prison Ship: Adventures of a Young Sailor

by Paul Dowswell

Overview

In March 1801, a mere six weeks after Sam Witchall's ship wrecked off the Cornish coast, his hopes for getting home are dashed when he is framed for theft and sent to Australia for punishment. The fifteen-thousand mile, eight-month journey is a hard and horrible one, and when he and his good friend Richard finally arrive, they find themselves fighting for their lives in the Australian bush. This epic sequel to Powder Monkey is every bit as exciting and action packed as its predecessor.

"Adventure fans will not be disappointed with the daring rescues, shark attacks, espionage, and heated battles that fill the pages of this historically accurate and vastly entertaining sequel." -School Library Journal

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781619630192
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	10/01/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
File size:	4 MB
Age Range:	12 - 14 Years

About the Author

Paul Dowswell is a former editor as well as the author or co-author of over 50 acclaimed nonfiction books for children on historical and scientific topics. He lives in Wolverhampton, England, with his wife and daughter.
A former senior editor with Usborne Publishing, Paul Dowswell is now a full-time author. He has written over 60 books, including Ausländer, nominated for the Carnegie Medal, the Red House Children's Book Award and the Booktrust Teenage Prize. Paul lives in Wolverhampton with his family.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 5-9-Back with his mates at sea, and now on the enormous HMS Elephant, 13-year-old Sam Witchall, first introduced in Powder Monkey (Bloomsbury, 2005), is once again in the heat of battle. But this time he comes painfully close to death when he and his friend Richard are falsely accused of a crime and sent aboard a prison ship headed for Australia. The danger worsens when he escapes into the Australian Bush and is tied up by a cannibalistic murderer. Fate lends him a hand when two fugitives rescue the boys, and they fight their way back to civilization. The venturesome and dangerous life of a sailor in 1801 is vividly brought to life. This tale, however, takes on a much darker turn as Sam is exposed to torture, illness, and a gruesome murder. Adventure fans will not be disappointed with the daring rescues, shark attacks, espionage, and heated battles that fill the pages of this historically accurate and vastly entertaining sequel.-Kimberly Monaghan, formerly at Vernon Area Public Library, IL Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Dowswell's nautical Napoleonic-era tale, begun in Powder Monkey (2005), loses steam in this sequel, which carries young Sam from Admiral Nelson's own quarterdeck at the Battle of Copenhagen to seemingly interminable wanderings through the Australian outback as an escaped convict. Thanks largely to his own stupidity, Sam gets into one scrape after another, including being "transported" to the distant prison colony on a trumped-up cowardice charge. But with monotonous regularity, a rescuer steps in before any permanent damage can occur, whether it be his steadfast buddy Richard or, more often, a hulking homosexual shipmate or some other conveniently appearing adult. As before, the violence of the naval action, underscored by Will's gut-wrenching terror, is sharp and vivid. But there's too little excitement, and too much tedious starving and stumbling about in the bush, to keep readers interested in his changing fortunes-or to care much when, at the end, massive plot contrivances bring him a pardon that clears the way for further adventures. A slow and leaky vessel. (Fiction. 11-13)

Kirkus Reviews