You wouldn’t want to Sail on a 19th-century Whaling Ship!

The year is 1819. You are a 14-year-old boy named Thomas Nickerson, living in Nantucket. It is one of the most important centres of the American whaling industry. You want to fulfill your boyhood dream of becoming a whaler by joining your friends aboard the whaling ship Essex. The Essex is bound for the Pacific Ocean, and a place in history. But you have no idea of the horrors – whale attacks, shipwreck, cannibalism – that lie ahead…

The humorous cartoon-style illustrations and the narrative approach placing readers at the centre of the narrative history encourage readers to get emotionally involved with the characters, aiding their understanding of what life would have been like on the whaling ship Essex. Informative captions, a completeglossary and an index make this title an ideal introduction to the conventions of non-fiction texts for young readers.