Cruise of the Arctic Star

My son enjoyed this book because of the narrators fishing adventures. He could not make the connections in between the narriation of the happening now and the narrator going back and talking about the history of the coast lines.
It just didn’t make the important historical parts stick to memory.

I read this book aloud to my children ages 9 and 6 as part of the Beautiful Feet History of California Through Literature Guide In the novel the author Scott O'Dell (author of Island of the Blue Dolphins and other works) travels up the coast of California in his own boat with his wife as navigator and a friend and one hired person as crew Each chapter talks a little bit about the author's boat travels (including lots of boating/ship terms and references) alternating with O'Dell's musings about the history geography or flora/fauna of the California coast For example as he leaves the San Diego port he talks about that reflects on the battle of San Pasqual in the area in the past and comments on kelp beds and recent environmental history O'Dell is very much interested in environmental preservation which comes through clearly in this writing He has a clear love of the CA coastIn our studies we used the book as a jump point in our history study So when O'Dell talked about Jed Smith in history we broke off to read more about Jed SmithWe found the boat/ship terminology a bit tough going at times especially with my 6yo 1st grader Even I found it a bit tedious but then again I'm not a sailor If you are that may be the best part of the book for you! History fans will find much to enjoy though in his engaging recounting of some of the events in California's history My young children love his fictional writing and much enjoyed this work of his as well This book is not written for children but those interested in California history will probably much enjoy it