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Victory

ALAN Review, Fall 2007 by Young, Karolinde

Victory by Susan Cooper Historical Fiction Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2006,196 pp., $16.95 ISBN: 1-4169-1477-3

Sam Robinson is young sailor aboard the H.M.S. Victory, Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Molly Jennings, an English girl, is forced to move to Connecticut when her mother marries a "Yank." When Molly buys a tattered biography on Nelson, the two teens' lives become connected across time.

Sam begins life as a poor farm boy with an abusive father. When his mysterious Uncle Charlie offers him an apprenticeship making rope, Sam leaps at the opportunity. Both Sam and his uncle are pressed into the Royal Navy, and Sam begins his transformation into a loyal sailor. Lonely, homesick Molly longs to return to England. Her homesickness seems to create an obsession over Nelson and the Victory.

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Sam's story is told with a powerful and mesmerizing voice, especially the fateful battle that costs Nelson his life. Molly's story is not as interesting or well developed, but the book is enjoyable nonetheless. Victory is appropriate for grades 5-8.

Karolinde Young

Manhattan, KS

Copyright Assembly on Literature for Adolescents -- National Council of Teachers of English Fall 2007
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved

Victory

ALAN Review, Fall 2007 by Young, Karolinde

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