I Sailed with Columbus - Softcover

Grade 6-9-- A well-researched glimpse into Columbus's voyage , told as an adventure story from the perspective of a ship's boy, Diego de la Acevedo . Diego and his friend Luis are in danger from the beginning because of the thieving Bartolome, one of many convicts conscripted to crew the three boats. The boys are aware also of the mutinous rumblings that threaten Columbus's life throughout the story. After landfall, Diego and Luis, along with their native friend Guaca, who has been taken on board, conspire to remove Bartolome's ill-gotten booty from its secret hiding place. Sensitive to Guaca's intense homesickness as the Santa Maria sails aimlessly from island to island in search of gold, Diego inadvertently causes the ship to run aground on a coral reef in an effort to let Guaca swim ashore to freedom. The integration of background material is excellent, and Martin makes readers fully aware of the unfairness of the claims of the new lands for Spain. Because of a rather slow beginning, this may need to be booktalked. A good alternative choice to the many recent non-fiction titles about Columbus. --Sylvia V. Meisner, Allen Middle School, Greensboro, NC
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.