January, 1862, Tom Carroll goes to work in the ship yard to help earn money for his family. Mr. John Ericsson is building an iron clad ship called the Monitor. It is the first of it's kind - "a tin can on a raft". It is being built to fight the Merrimac, the first iron clad ship ever and to protect the Naval Blockade of the North. March 9, 1862, the Monitor met the Merrimac at Fortress Monroe and saved the flagship Minnesota. Both sides claimed to have won the battle, but the blockade held and the Merrimac was never used again. The Monitor only was used for one year. It sank in a storm, but it was a turning point in the Civil War that has gone down through history. This is told through the eyes of the young boy Tom as he works at the ship yard and later sails on the Monitor and takes part in the historic battle.
After his father is killed during the Civil War, thirteen-year-old Tom takes on a job to at the ironworks to support his family, and finds himself a target of ruthless spies when he begins assisting with the ironclad ship the "Monitor.".
ReplyDeletePublishers Weekly Review: /* Starred Review */
ReplyDeleteThis fascinating adventure taken from U.S. history begins in Brooklyn in 1862, when Tom Carroll, 13, is hired at the Iron Works in Greenpoint for a secret project, derisively known around the borough as “Ericsson’s Folly.” John Ericsson, a Swedish inventor, is trying to build an ironclad ship that can battle the Merrimac , a Confederate ship being outfitted with metal plates in Virginia. Working to support his widowed mother and ailing sister, Tom becomes Ericsson’s aide-de-camp. His insider status makes him a target of Secessionist spies, who offer gold coins in exchange for details about the ship; when Tom refuses, the bribes escalate to threats. Additionally, there’s intense pressure to get the ship finished—Yankee spies report the Merrimac is almost done—and concerns persist about whether it will actually float. When the Monitor leaves port, Tom’s aboard, safe from rebel spies, but nervous about heading into the war that has already claimed his father. The spectacular clash with the Merrimac caps this intense and action-packed account of a battle that changed the course of naval warfare. Illustrated with period engravings, this is gripping historical fiction from a keenly imagined perspective. An endnote detailing Avi’s research at the Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Va., makes this a book that could launch a thousand field trips. Ages 8-12. (Sept.) --Staff (Reviewed July 16, 2007) (Publishers Weekly, vol 254, issue 28, p165)