Christopher Moning (Children's Literature)
Newbery Medal winner Sharon Creech's latest novel is a multi-layered story that encompasses family drama, mystery and intrigue, and death defying sea adventure. It is also a touching coming of age saga about a girl coming to terms with grief. Thirteen-year-old Sophie is determined to join her three uncles and two cousins on a transatlantic journey aboard the 45-foot sailboat, The Wanderer. Sophie's grandfather, Bompie, awaits the family in England. During their journey, Sophie engages her travel companions with stories from Bompie's childhood. Sophie's anecdotes about Bompie ring true but they have the family puzzled. Sophie has never even met her grandfather--she is an orphan and has only been in the family for a few years. But there is no time to ponder such mysteries--the wave of Sophie's worst nightmare batters the sailboat and for some time the family's very survival is in doubt. The novel is related through the journal entries of Sophie and her thirteen-year-old cousin, Cody, a device that proves to be extremely effective. When the family finally reaches its destination, Sophie is able to gain closure from the tragic events of her early childhood. 2000, Joanna Cotler Books/HarperCollins, $15.95. Ages 8 to 12.

CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices, 2001)
Most of this elegantly designed novel is set on the ocean. The story features two 13-year-old cousins, Sophie and Cody, who sail with three uncles and another cousin across the sea to visit Bompie (their grandfather) in England. The alternating voices of Sophie and Cody's travel logs move the 78-chapter story quickly. As the novel unfolds, Sophie makes more than one perilous journey. In his own way, so does Cody, and the trip's dangers change each teenager. Sharon Creech telegraphs her theme while spinning her tale, so that younger, thoughtful readers won't miss the internal journeys even while the waves are high. Devotees of Creech's Newbery Award winner Walk Two Moons (HarperCollins, 1994) will be pleased that there's a new book by this popular author, and that it explores similar thematic territory at an easier level and in a new way. Diaz's black-and-white artwork decorates the first pages of each chapter. CCBC categories: Fiction for Children. 2000, Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins, 305 pages, $15.95. Ages 11-14.

Deborah Stevenson (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, April 2000 (Vol. 53, No. 8))
Thirteen-year-old Sophie is thrilled with her summer adventure, sailing across the Atlantic on the Wanderer, “a forty-five-foot sailboat with a motley crew: three uncles and two cousins.” Relations among Sophie’s “boat family” are sometimes prickly, with Uncle Stew and his son Brian officiously worrying, Uncle Mo joining them to denigrate his lazy but charming son Cody, and everyone feeling a little awkward about Sophie. It’s understandable that her position in the group is complicated, since her history is as well: the family to which she’s so fiercely loyal became hers through adoption three years ago, and she shies away from discussion of her previous life. Her shipmates aren’t sure of what to make of her multitude of stories about Bompie, the grandfather they’re sailing to see and whom Sophie has never met--Sophie insists the stories are true, told to her by Bompie, but is this just part of her retroactively imagined family life, and if so, what will happen when she finally comes face to face with the old man? Interspersing Sophie’s narration with excerpts from Cody’s log, Creech concocts an effective atmosphere filled with promise and possibility, yet tinged with shadows of past grief. She doesn’t overdo the sea-changes, but it’s clear that everyone, not just Sophie, is grappling with the implications of their past and wondering about their futures. Sophie’s past watery tragedy is rather romantic, but in general the author employs these classic motifs well; Sophie’s physical and emotional passages are depicted with tenderness and strength (her meeting with Bompie is unforcedly and superbly touching). Diaz' woodcuts are just right for adding both geography (maps of various parts of the voyage are helpful) and decoration, with headpieces opening each brief chapter. Sophie is a quietly luminous heroine, and readers will rejoice in her voyage. (Reviewed from galleys) Review Code: R* -- Denotes books of special distinction. (c) Copyright 2000, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2000, Cotler/HarperCollins, 320p, $15.95 and $15.89. Grades 5-8.

Dorothy Francis (The Five Owls, May/June 2000 (Vol. 14, No. 5))
The sea, the sea. It rolled and rolled and called to me. Come in, it said, come in." Thirteen-year-old Sophie has begged her way aboard The Wanderer, Uncle Dock's 45-foot sailboat, for a voyage from Connecticut across the Atlantic Ocean to England and her grandfather, Bompie. It will be a dangerous voyage, but Sophie welcomes the challenge. She is a seasoned sailor whose seafaring skills match those of her three uncles and two cousins. The inevitable friction between close relatives in close quarters adds spark to the tale as these sailors face a storm that almost sinks their boat. They wonder if they'll live to see land again. Each character in this story comes to life on the pages. The perils and mysteries of the sea are so realistically presented that readers will feel the wind, hear the snap of the sails, and taste the salt spray as they find themselves intrigued by the mysterious Sophie herself. Why does she deny being an orphan? How can she know personally told tales from a grandfather she has never met? What happened to her parents? Newbery Medal winner for Walk Two Moons (HarperCollins, 1994), Sharon Creech, presents answers to these questions slowly and obliquely through logbook entries written by Sophie and her "dangerously charming" cousin, Cody. David Diaz's ink drawings at the chapter headings help pull the reader into the swirling sea scenes. Through words and pictures, readers come to understand and appreciate Sophie's love/hate relationship with the sea as her inner thoughts touch on profound ideas that readers can ponder as they relate her life to their own. Out here, there isn't day and night and then a new day. Instead, there are degrees of light and dark, merging and changing. It's like one long stream of time unfolding in front of you, all around you . . . maybe people never die, but simply live on and on, leaving other planes behind . . . maybe we're not each just one person, but many people existing on millions of different planes . . .Sophie and the sailing ship are both wanderers in this story of adventure, courage and personal growth. The invitation is there for readers to test their own mettle by joining them. 2000, Harper Collins, $15.95. Ages 8 to 12.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Fall 2000)
Sophie is determined to join her three uncles and two (boy) cousins on their transatlantic sail to England, home of her beloved grandfather Bompie. Told through the pages of Sophie's journal, the novel is rather too obviously a voyage of self-discovery. What works best is the protean nature of Sophie's relationships with her uncles and cousins, all of whom have some self-discoveries to make of their own. Category: Intermediate Fiction. 2000, HarperCollins/Cotler, 305pp, $15.95, $15.89. Ages 9 to 12. Rating: 4: Recommended, with minor flaws.

Loveta Campbell (The Lorgnette - Heart of Texas Reviews (Vol. 13, No. 1))
THE WANDERER is a book of adventure, mystery, relationships, and resolutions. The reader is privileged to the contents of Sophie's and Cody's journals, which tell of the preparations for and completion of a sailing journey across the Atlantic to visit a grandfather. Sophie is allowed to make the journey with three uncles and two teenage cousins. As the story develops, all these personalities, unpleasant as well as pleasant, are exposed. As noted in the journals' accounts, each of the sailors discovers things about himself. While in close quarters and suspenseful situations, Sophie finds closure to experiences in her younger life. The author uses the alternate journal accounts effectively and insightfully. When the reader becomes accustomed to the pattern, it is easy and exciting reading. Creech is the winner of a Newbery Medal for Walk Two Moons and has to her credit several other books. The drawings at the beginning of each chapter and on the cover are eye catching. Grades 3-7. 2000, Joanna Cotler Books, 305p, $15.89. Ages 8 to 13.

Alice F. Stern (VOYA, December 2000 (Vol. 23, No. 5))
Thirteen-year-old Sophie joins three uncles and two male cousins for a sailing trip from New England to the British Isles. Their story is told through journal entries from both Sophie and her cousin Cody. On the surface, this novel seems to be a story of six people learning to get along in small quarters despite personality differences and a variety of skill levels, but Creech tells another story here as well. By the sixth chapter, when we see Cody's first journal entry, we learn that Sophie was adopted into the family only three years before, even though she talks as if she always has been a member. Sophie's difficulty dealing with the death of her natural parents creates some tension with the other members of the crew. These emotional components of the story are as suspenseful and dramatic as the sea voyage itself. Both stories are told in an understated style with humor, making this novel rise above other adventure stories or angst-ridden tales of loss and acceptance. It will appeal to readers with many different tastes. Physically, the book also is of the highest quality, with small line drawings by Diaz heading each chapter. The Wanderer belongs in every young adult collection. PLB $15.89. VOYA CODES: 5Q 4P M J (Hard to imagine it being any better written; Broad general YA appeal; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2000, HarperCollins, 288p, $15.95. Ages 11 to 15.