From School Library Journal
Grade 3-6-- Pedro, one of three ship's boys on board the Santa Maria, acknowledges that he was hired on not for his seamanship, but for his ability to read and write. Conrad uses the device of a journal to tell of his adventures with Columbus, a man whom Pedro admires, but who also engages in fiery rages and penitent Hail Marys. The details of mutinous murmurings, falling stars, and false land sightings that are described in Susan Martin's I Sailed with Columbus (Overlook, 1991), Miriam Schlein's I Sailed with Columbus (HarperCollins, 1991), and Genevieve O'Connor's The Admiral and the Deck Boy (Shoe Tree, 1991) appear in this narrative as well, but in a tighter, more concise telling. Pedro's journal is a vivid revelation of the details of the voyage as well as the time period. Readers see the boy's discomfort in the explorer's proprietary treatment of the natives and, in particular, his shame that these people are allowed to believe that the Spaniards are deities. Koeppen's line drawings, many of the ships and their equippage, add dimension to the plot. One of the most pleasing of this season's Columbus offerings, Conrad's story will serve as an attractive alternative to nonfiction reading on the subject and certainly as a read-aloud.

RELEASE NOTES:

In a basket in the store.