Title: Fire Ship
Author: Marianne Brandis
Publisher:Porcupine’s Quill
Age Range: Children (9+)
Time Period: 1813
Location: York, Upper Canada
“Fire Ship, the story of the warship, Sir Issac Brock, and a young boy’s dedication and love of that ship, brings to life the Upper Canada of the early 1800s. Young Dan plays an important role during the American attack on York and quickly discovers that war is not an exciting adventure, but rather a tragedy that affects family, friends, and foes alike. Fire Ship gives us a historically accurate slice of the lives of those people who helped to build this country.”
There’s something about the idea of war that really seems to appeal to young men. The chance to be heroic, to be part of something grand – it all draws them in. This book showcases the loss of that idealism for one young man, Dan Dobson, a 13 year old who is proud of his hard work as part of the team building the ship, Sir Issac Brock. He’s dreaming of the day when the ship will sail and secretly planning to be a sailor when it does. In the blink of an eye, this dream is shattered as the Americans arrive at York with their ships, guns a-blazing.
It’s hard not to be sucked into this well-written, fast punching, descriptive and vibrant novel. I couldn’t believe how innocent and calm the opening scene is, as we follow young Dan on a silent canoe trip chasing loons, and feeling his strong pride in the ship that he’s building. War destroys everything – and by the end of the book, even though the time frame was no more than 2 weeks from that opening scene, we find a boy who has quickly become a man.
Note: I didn’t see any issues with language in the book, but there were 2 incidents that I thought I should mention:
- References to alcohol (whiskey) – used in a makeshift hospital as painkiller.
- Also, there’s a conversation about the purpose of looting and how soldiers may trade stuff they’d looted to girls in exchange for sex. Although the word is never actually used, it’s heavily implied along with the revelation that encounters between soldier and girls might be forced.
Both these were relevant to the story and time period.
I was given a copy of this book to read and review.
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