The Wanderer

Rating: Cleanest

Audience: Fifth grade and up.

Plot:  Sophie, her two cousins, and her three uncles set off on a modern pilgrimage across the Atlantic ocean, crewing their own boat, to visit their Grandfather "Bompie" in England.

But that's not the whole story. Sophie has deep, scarring fears she refuses to acknowledge except in fictional stories about the grandfather she's never met, Cody's never good enough for his father, Uncle Mo wishes he had followed his dream to be an artist, Uncle Dock is still longing for the love of his past . . . deep stuff.  Through Sophie and Cody's travel logs, we see all the real desires of the characters unfold, and they learn how to support each other and confront their own fears.

What makes it great?

Sharon Creech doesn't write thrillers--her stories are moved forward by emotion, not by plot.  That being said, I think this one has the most interesting plot out of the ones I've read. Reading about life on a ship is exciting, especially to someone (like me) who doesn't live anywhere near an ocean. The characters learn the phonetic alphabet (alpha, bravo, charlie, foxtrot, etc.), and how to navigate the seas, as well as how to dig for clams, juggle, draw caricatures, and tell stories. They run into a storm, and have to get their small boat through it with only six people (three of them children) on crew. That's just cool!  But the novel is also lyrical and beautifully written.  I can read this book again and again.  It's probably not for everyone. If you want a book is mostly action instead of emotion, this is not the book for you, but if you want to walk away from a book feeling something deeper, I highly recommend it.