Abigail Takes the Wheel (An I Can Read Chapter Book) - Hardcover

Avi

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060276622 ISBN 13: 9780060276621

Publisher: Harpercollins Childrens Books, 1999

Synopsis

When the first mate of the freight boat Neptune falls ill, it is up to Abigail, the captain's daughter, to steer the ship up the Hudson River from New Jersey to New York City.

About this title

About the Author

Ask Avi how you know when you're a real writer and his answer is simple: "I think you become a writer when you stop writing for yourself or your teachers and start thinking about readers." Avi made up his mind to do that when he was just a senior in high school.

Avi was born in 1937 in New York City and was raised in Brooklyn. Kids often ask him about his name. "My twin sister gave it to me when we were both about a year old. And it stuck." To this day, Avi is the only name the author uses.

As a kid, Avi says, he was "shy, not into sports, but someone who loved to read and play games of imagination." He did not consider himself a good student, though. "In elementary school I did well in science, but I was a poor writer. When I got to high school I failed all my courses. Then my folks put me in a small school that emphasized reading and writing." What made him want to become a writer? "Since writing was important to my family, friends and school, it was important to me. I wanted to prove that I could write. But it took years before I had a book published."

Avi didn't start off as an author of children's books but as a playwright. It was only when he had children of his own that he started to write for young people.

When asked if writing is hard for him, Avi gives an unequivocal YES. "But," he goes on, "it's hard for everyone to write well. I have to rewrite over and over again, so on average it takes me a year to write a book." Where does he get his ideas? "Everybody has ideas. The vital question is: What do you do with them? My wife, a college teacher, uses her ideas to understand literature. My rock musician sons shape their ideas in to music. I take my ideas and turn them into stories."

Avi's advice for people who want to write: "I believe reading is the key to writing. the more you read, the better your writing can be." He adds, "Listen, and watch the world around you. Don't be satisfied with answers others give you. Don't assume that because everyone believes a thing, that it is right or wrong. Reason things out for yourself. Work to get answers on your own. Understand why you believe things. Finally, write what you honestly feel, then learn from the criticism that will always come your way."Avi's many award-winning books for young readers include the Newbery Honor Books Nothing But the Truth and The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, as well as more Tales from Dimwood Forest, including Poppy, winner of the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award, Poppy and Rye, and Ragweed. His many other books include tales of mystery, fantasy, and historical fiction for young readers of all ages.

Reviews

Grade 2-3-An easy-reader set in the 1880s. Abigail and Tom have made the 20-mile trip from Old Port, NJ, to New York City on their family's freight boat hundreds of times. Things take a surprising turn, though, when their father takes the helm of a damaged sailing ship they are towing into harbor and Abigail must take charge of the Neptune when the first mate falls ill. She navigates the freighter safely through to its final destination where she is lauded by the crews of both vessels. An author's note states that the tale is based on a story that appeared in St. Nicholas magazine in 1881. The setting is established largely through the illustrations, from the characters' suspenders, aprons, and lace-up boots to the engine being stoked. Muted colors and a predominance of earth tones add to the atmosphere. Although the dialogue and third-person narrative have no particular period flavor, the boat signals and maneuvers are vividly described. The child-saves-the-day story line will appeal to youngsters whose daydreams tend to feature themselves as the heroic protagonists. With minimal characterization, this is a carefully illustrated, plot-driven adventure for transitional readers.
Faith Brautigam, Gail Borden Public Library, Elgin, IL
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

PLB 0-06-027663-0 In the I Can Read Chapter Book series, Avi returns to some surefire ingredientsa girl and the boat she eventually pilotsthough for a far younger audience than that for The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. Every day, Abigail Bates, brother Tom, and their father, Captain Bates, leave Old Port, in New Jersey, in their paddle wheel freight boat and home, the Neptune. On board is a load of fresh vegetables intended for buyers in New York City, 20 miles up the Hudson. One morning, as they leave Old Port, two sailing ships collide; Captain Bates offers to tow one of them to New York, but under harbor law, he has to take her wheel. He leaves first mate Mr. Oliver to pilot the Neptune, but Mr. Oliver becomes ill and hands the wheel over to Abigail. Scared but game, Abigail navigates the two ships through the busy river traffic, barely escaping another collision and ingeniously maneuvering the stricken sailing ship to safe berth. Predictably, for her courage and skill, she is made an honorary captain. Abigail is a spunky heroine cast in a sturdy story; the suspense will hold readers just ready for chapter books. The surprise in the competent illustrations, which conjure the late 19th-century setting, is the insertion of some unexpected diversity in the casting of the first mate. (Fiction. 8-10) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harpercollins Childrens Books
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0060276622
• ISBN 13: 9780060276621
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Bolognese Don
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 64