This is one of the 55 books my mom got last week at the Salvation Army store in Gurnee, IL ... averaging less than a quarter a piece. The front cover is missing, but it's worth it for a Newbery Award book. This book was once at Glencoe Public Schools.
c. 1976 -- Fiction

Back Cover: A Newbery Medal book. Mafatu's name means Stout Heart, but people call him a coward. He fears the sea because it killer his mother when he was a baby. And so, though his father is the Great Chief of Hikueru -- an island whose seafaring people worship courage -- he is afraid.

By the time he is 10 years old Mafatu can no longer bear the taunts and jibes. One day, alone in his canoe, he paddles out to sea to conquer his fear ...

I finished reading this on 7/20/05. This was an exciting adventure about a boy (Mafatu) who faced his fear of the sea (after his mother died there) and proved his bravery and courage to his father.

Used for 2005 Alphabet Challenge - S author

I will give this to my daughter (starwarsfreak) for her Newbery collection.

Newbery Permanent Collection