The Wanderer Author:Sharon Creech

The Wanderer

Author: Sharon Creech

Reviewed By: Melanie Halibian

“Boom”, “Snap”, “Crack” was heard late into the dark night sky. There was a raucous going on in the big blue sea. The winds were howling and crashing along the old Wanderer boat where Sophie and her cousins and uncles were. It was a difficult journey with the howling wind and tidal waves.  The night turned into day but the winds did not let up.  Then without anyone seeing it a huge wave came towards the boat where the little old Wanderer was and swept it away.

The Basics

In the story The Wanderer the protagonist is a girl named Sophie. Sophie is a very adventurous girl with a kind heart. All she wants in life is to get the opportunity to sail across the world.  This was her big dream but she often wondered if it would happen. Until one day Sophie got a call from her Uncle Doc telling her he was planning to sail his boat to England. Sophie was amazed by the call and she did not hesitate to say yes.  He told her they would sail at the end of the school year.  She could hardly wait.

The first couple of weeks on the boat were not the best because her cousins and uncles never let her do anything and they fought all the time. Until one day they realized they needed each other the most.

The setting was in the Atlantic Ocean and England in modern day time. The problem in the book is that Sophie’s uncles never let Sophie have any responsibility in the boat to do anything. One time she wanted to fix a leak in the cabin but her one of her uncles gave the job to one of her cousins because he thought that she couldn’t handle it. This made Sophie upset and she felt that her uncles did not have faith in her and her abilities. Her cousins were not nice because they either made fun of her or told her that she could not do anything. They mostly made fun of her background and where she had came from.

My Opinion

I liked this book because I could relate to the characters.  I felt that the author was very descriptive about each character and who they were.  I understood what each individual was going through in their hardships like about them fighting with their family or them not cooperating as a team and what they dreamt about and their passion.  Each character was unique and relatable to individuals that I know in my life. Also the theme that this book helps me to understand better is that working together can make a big difference on everyone.    

Making a Connection

This book reminds me of Sophie. The author was very descriptive about Sophie’s personality and traits. Sophie reminds me of myself with what she was going through with her uncles and cousins.  There have been situations that I felt that my uncles thought I could not complete a task because they assumed I was too young to take on such responsibilities.  And there have been times when my cousins have told me to leave the room because they were going to talk about “adult topics”.  These situations have hurt my feelings and therefore I do understand what Sophie was going through.  Also Sophie was very kind hearted person as am I.  I never want to see someone crying or hurt because that makes me sad.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this book was trying to teach the lesson that how working together and listening to each other can solve problems.  As a team people can make big differences.  By working together and not criticizing each can make people more productive and happy.

Honorable Mention Books

Turtle in Paradise

Bird

Cleopatra VII

Bloomibility

By: Melanie Halibian