[read 3-23-09]
What starts as a tale of pirates on the high seas of the Pacific soon becomes a tale of Spanish California, when pirate cabin boy "Shipwreck" joins Captain Gallows on land at Gallows' new ranch. This is the third in Fleischman's tales of Spanish California (following By the Great Horn Spoon and Bandit's Moon -- both written several years ago). As with most of Fleischman's stories, this is a quick, fun read.
This is not only a review, it's also a tribute to Sid Fleischman, who died March 17, 2010, a day after his 90th birthday. (Check out his webpage at http://www.sidfleischman.com/.) Sid was one of the authors for the 1989 author symposium "we" (Hutchinson Public Library and the South Central Kansas Library System) sponsored. His son, fellow author Paul Fleischman, was also a speaker that year. Both were Newbery medalists -- Sid in 1987 (for The Whipping Boy) and Paul in 1989 (for Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices). The day before the symposium began, I was sitting with Sid in the lobby of the hotel, waiting for Paul to arrive. Sid told me he thought it was a real coup that I'd been able to get both Paul and him for this symposium, because it would be the first time that the Newbery winning father and son would have appeared together. I was just happy to be able to afford them some extra time together.
Sid was such a gracious man during his visit (and also before and after, whenever I had to contact him about details about his visit). And he was a popular and prolific children's author. If you've never read any of his books, try one.
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