The Castle in the Sea

Finished October 9
The Castle in the Sea by Mardi McConnochie

This is the second book in the series that began with The Flooded Earth. The boat the children are on has hit a storm as the book begins, and the sea is very rough. Annalie is safety conscious and makes everyone put on their life vest, and they struggle to put the sails down, but the mast is damaged before they complete it and two people have gone overboard. Annalie is torn over what to do, but sticks with the boat. After the seas calm she goes searching, and we see the story from both her and her brother Will's point of view. With pirates in the waters, the Admiralty still searching hard for them, and their options limited, the four struggle on, still searching for Annalie and Will's father Spinner.
This is a story of resilience and determination as the four children use the resources and skills they have as they deal with new and often frightening situations. The terrible strength of water arises more than once here, and they learn to look for solutions that are not always the obvious ones. I enjoyed seeing the characters develop further. Pod comes out of his shell and Essie shows new determination. Annalie surprises the others with the things she is able to stay calm in the face of. Looking forward to the third book.

Archipelago

Finished September 26
Archipelago by Monique Roffey

This novel begins a year after Gavin's home was hit by a destructive wave of water during a storm, damaging the home badly and dealing a debilitating blow to his family. As the rainy season begins again, Gavin's six-year-old daughter Océan begins having nightmares about the events that changed her life, and Gavin finds himself still stuck in the depression that has been with him since that day. He makes a spontaneous decision to take his old sailbook Romany and head west from his home in Trinidad with Océan and his dog Suzy. He has no real destination at first, just moving away from the source of his and Océan's sadness, but his old dreams of sailing to the Galapagos Islands begin to surface.
Gavin regains his old comfort with sailing gradually, and for one difficult stretch advertises for someone to help, bringing a young Swedish woman, Phoebe, into their lives, and breaking into their protective aloofness. Océan's comfort with the sea increases as the trip progresses, and the two find that the sea encourages them to ponder their sadness, which has followed them, and interests them in their lives once more.
The trip takes them from Trinidad first to the Venezuelan Margarita Island, on to Los Roques, and from there to the ABC islands of Bonaire, Curacao, and Aruba. Then a long open sea stretch over to Cartagena, on to the San Blas Archipelago, through the Panama Canal and on to the Galapagos Islands.
It also exposes them to fascinating creatures on land and sea, to a wide variety of people and ways of living, and to more sadness and loss and to joy. This is the story of a father and his daughter healing together, discovering together, growing closer, and finding a way to move on. Roffey's writing is easy and flowing, bringing the world around these travellers to life, along with their feelings.
The only criticism I found was towards the end, where I felt the plot manipulated to bring about the ending.

Come Looking for Me

Finished January 16
Come Looking for Me by Cheryl Cooper
This novel is 1813, during the War of 1812 (yes it lasted more than just one year). Emily is a young British woman who was travelling to Canada on a merchant vessel. The vessel was attacked by an American ship,the USS Serendipity, and she was kidnapped by the captain, Thomas Trevelyan. She's not sure what he intends and as the book opens, she fears for her future. The book begins with an attack on the ship by a British warship, the HMS Isabelle. On that ship we have the captain James Moreland, officers including one Fly Austen (sister of Jane Austen), a ship's doctor Leander Braden, 12-year-old midshipman Augustus (Gus) Walby, a young sailmaker known only as Magpie, a cook called Biscuit, and many other interesting characters.
The majority of the action in this novel takes place on ships, from the Serendipity, the Isabelle, the Amethyst, and the Prosperous and Remarkable. The characters are wonderful and the action gives a real sense of life on board during this time. The novel also covers a multitude of genres from rollicking adventure, to mystery (just who is Emily anyway), and romance. I loved the added touches to even the minor characters that made them come alive. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Canadian Fiction

Finished March 5
The Sea Captain's Wife by Beth Powning
The main character, Azuba Galloway, grew up in a small community on the Bay of Fundy, Whelan's Cove. Her family were shipbuilders, and she always dreamed of going to sea someday. When she meets and marries a sea captain she expects to sail with him, but he leaves her shortly after their marriage while he goes on another voyage.
She doesn't feel comfortable with the other captain's wives, and is lonely in the big house on the hill, and finds a friend in an unlikely place. Just before her husband returns, her actions cause a scandal, and when he next returns to sea, he feels that she and their daughter must go with him.
As they voyage, Azuba discovers that sea life is not as she expected, and the difficulties test her in ways she didn't expect. They also test the marriage and allow Azuba and Nathaniel to see each other in ways they hadn't before. This is a story of discovery and adventure as well as a story of the couple.
Capturing the time period of the last days of the Age of Sail, this book gives a good sense of the life on board a ship and travelling the seas.