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Title: An All-Time Great
Review: Fleischman totally engaged me as a child, and impresses me as a teacher. (This isn't a kiddie book Precocious fourth and up could handle it.) Here he covers whaling 19th century New England while dishing up a funny, thrilling book using the archetypal spunky kid and errant dad combo that appears in many of his works.Oliver is a self-sufficent boy whith an absent father. In the end, through his own ingeniuity and moral choices, he finds not only his actual father but a genuine father figure: The reluctant wanderer who ultimately does the right thing.I think this is a fantastic book. My elementary students loved it read aloud. It is so lacking in condescension, so un-patronizing, it is an adult read as well.
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