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ljrinaldi's review against another edition
4.0
Let me start by saying I am both quite impressed with the author’s writing of what can only be considered a victorian adventure story for kids. (except it was post world war one, so that was well after the Victorian era had ended.) and also surprised that she tried to do it at all.
Think of The Railway Children by E. Nesbit, or any of Dickens stories, and you get the general idea. Plucky orphans, and coincidences, and great adventures. All packed in this fun but strange middle grade novel.
The basic story is that World War One has just ended and Ben needs to find his brother Sam who was wounded in the war, and never found, presumed dead. Lotti’s parents are also dead, and her guardians hate her guts, so she wants to find her grandmother in France.
So, they set out with a narrow boat, the Sparrowhawk, to cross the English Channel, something that is not done. Narrow boats are made for canals.
Along the way they meat a whole cast of characters, and there are amazing coincidences, and it is generally a feel good adventure story.
You just have to suspend your disbelief and take it for what it is.
Thanks to Edelweiss for making this book available for an honest review.
Think of The Railway Children by E. Nesbit, or any of Dickens stories, and you get the general idea. Plucky orphans, and coincidences, and great adventures. All packed in this fun but strange middle grade novel.
The basic story is that World War One has just ended and Ben needs to find his brother Sam who was wounded in the war, and never found, presumed dead. Lotti’s parents are also dead, and her guardians hate her guts, so she wants to find her grandmother in France.
So, they set out with a narrow boat, the Sparrowhawk, to cross the English Channel, something that is not done. Narrow boats are made for canals.
Along the way they meat a whole cast of characters, and there are amazing coincidences, and it is generally a feel good adventure story.
You just have to suspend your disbelief and take it for what it is.
Thanks to Edelweiss for making this book available for an honest review.
ruthie_the_librarian's review against another edition
5.0
Read & reviewed for The Bookbag
http://www.thebookbag.co.uk/reviews/index.php?title=Voyage_of_the_Sparrowhawk_by_Natasha_Farrant
http://www.thebookbag.co.uk/reviews/index.php?title=Voyage_of_the_Sparrowhawk_by_Natasha_Farrant
alicebentley's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
I read this on the recommendation of a friend, and it did indeed provide adventure, a sense of wonder, and distraction at a time when I really needed it. A quick read, and worth the time.
jo81082's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
bookmarkhoarder's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
rwims's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Wonderful story of Ben and lottie and their dogs. Both children who are orphans strike up a strong friendship with the sparrowhawk and a quest at the heart of it. These strong willed children cross the Channel in a narrow boat to find their family. This is a unique and passionate trip that will leave to on edge as you follow their journey.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent
backonthealex's review against another edition
4.0
It's spring 1919, and Ben Langton, 13, feels like he's lost almost everything. His adoptive father Nathan was killed in a bombing in France during World War I when he visited Ben's older brother Sam, wounded in the war. Now, Sam is missing, presumed dead. But Ben refuses to give up hope that Sam will one day return to England and has decided to live on Nathan's narrowboat, the Sparrowhawk, thinking that is where Sam would head to when he comes home. After all, it had been home to the three of them and their dog Elsie for years.
Lotti St. Rémy, 12, is living in her parent's large house called Barton Lacey with her rather unlikable Aunt Vera and Uncle Hubert Netherbury when she isn't being shipped off to dreadful boarding schools only to get expelled. Her parents had both died in an accident and the Netherbury's were Lotti's guardians. What Lotti doesn't understand is why she hasn't heard anything from her beloved French grandmother since her parents death. Grandmother and granddaughter has always been so close.
Ben and Lotti meet onboard the Sparrowhawk after Lotti rescues an abused Chihuahua she promptly renames Federico. Naturally, her uncle threatens to have it shot when he discovers it and send her off to the most dreadful boarding school yet. Ben has been dodging the local constable, Albert Skinner, who doesn't believe Sam is coming home and wants to put Ben back into the orphanage he and Sam has lived in before Nathan adopted them.
Somehow, Lotti convinces her uncle to let a reclusive Clara Primrose tutor her and Ben. Clara has been waiting for the love of her life to return from the war, having promised to wait for him and earning her living as a translator.
But then Clara disappears from Great Barton, and since Ben and Lotti are both 'on the run' from authority figures anyway, they ultimately hatch a plan to take the Sparrowhawk across the English Channel to France to find Sam and Grandmother St. Rémy. There's just one problem. The Sparrowhawk is a narrowboat, it has a flat bottom meant only for smooth sailing through England's many canals, not the open sea. Ben and Lotti, now sporting short hair and boys clothing and calling herself Charlie, set off, only to discover that the constable coming after them. Enter Frank, skipper of the Secret Starling, and old friend of Nathan's, who agrees to help them cross the English Channel. But can the Sparrowhawk, Ben, Lottie, Frank, Elsie and Federico survive the rough currents of the Thames and the Channel?
Two lonely, friendless children, one broken-hearted tutor/translator, one adventurous narrowboat skipper with an emotional connection to Nathan, and two dogs are all tied together in this heartwarming adventure story and what an adventure it is. The overriding theme of this story is family and home and how the loss of one member can make someone feel less than whole and less at home with themselves. Each character, even the constable, has suffered a loss because of WWI that has sent their lives off course and each is looking for a way to set the course straight again and the Sparrowhawk certainly serves as a nice metaphor for this theme.
The story is told from the third person points of view of several characters, giving readers insight to what is going on with all of them. Ben and Lotti/Charlie meet several secondary characters on their journey, who of whom are willing to help them for their own reasons. Readers may find there are lots of coincidences or lucky breaks throughout, but, hey, that's the stuff of middle grade fiction and it works really well here because there are also enough obstacles to overcome.
Voyage of the Sparrowhawk is an exciting, poignant tale with a cast of some very likable characters and some real scoundrels. I should mention that while the war is the cause of everyone's unhappiness, it is really a postwar tale so readers may find Farrant's descriptions of France somewhat graphic, though not overwhelming so. For American readers who may not be familiar with narrowboats, there is an illustration at the front of the book, as well as a great description of the boat's interior at the beginning of the story. There is also a map and timeline of the journey Ben and Lotti undertake.
This is middle grade adventure at its best!
This book is recommended fro readers age 9+
This book was an eARC received from Edelweiss+
Lotti St. Rémy, 12, is living in her parent's large house called Barton Lacey with her rather unlikable Aunt Vera and Uncle Hubert Netherbury when she isn't being shipped off to dreadful boarding schools only to get expelled. Her parents had both died in an accident and the Netherbury's were Lotti's guardians. What Lotti doesn't understand is why she hasn't heard anything from her beloved French grandmother since her parents death. Grandmother and granddaughter has always been so close.
Ben and Lotti meet onboard the Sparrowhawk after Lotti rescues an abused Chihuahua she promptly renames Federico. Naturally, her uncle threatens to have it shot when he discovers it and send her off to the most dreadful boarding school yet. Ben has been dodging the local constable, Albert Skinner, who doesn't believe Sam is coming home and wants to put Ben back into the orphanage he and Sam has lived in before Nathan adopted them.
Somehow, Lotti convinces her uncle to let a reclusive Clara Primrose tutor her and Ben. Clara has been waiting for the love of her life to return from the war, having promised to wait for him and earning her living as a translator.
But then Clara disappears from Great Barton, and since Ben and Lotti are both 'on the run' from authority figures anyway, they ultimately hatch a plan to take the Sparrowhawk across the English Channel to France to find Sam and Grandmother St. Rémy. There's just one problem. The Sparrowhawk is a narrowboat, it has a flat bottom meant only for smooth sailing through England's many canals, not the open sea. Ben and Lotti, now sporting short hair and boys clothing and calling herself Charlie, set off, only to discover that the constable coming after them. Enter Frank, skipper of the Secret Starling, and old friend of Nathan's, who agrees to help them cross the English Channel. But can the Sparrowhawk, Ben, Lottie, Frank, Elsie and Federico survive the rough currents of the Thames and the Channel?
Two lonely, friendless children, one broken-hearted tutor/translator, one adventurous narrowboat skipper with an emotional connection to Nathan, and two dogs are all tied together in this heartwarming adventure story and what an adventure it is. The overriding theme of this story is family and home and how the loss of one member can make someone feel less than whole and less at home with themselves. Each character, even the constable, has suffered a loss because of WWI that has sent their lives off course and each is looking for a way to set the course straight again and the Sparrowhawk certainly serves as a nice metaphor for this theme.
The story is told from the third person points of view of several characters, giving readers insight to what is going on with all of them. Ben and Lotti/Charlie meet several secondary characters on their journey, who of whom are willing to help them for their own reasons. Readers may find there are lots of coincidences or lucky breaks throughout, but, hey, that's the stuff of middle grade fiction and it works really well here because there are also enough obstacles to overcome.
Voyage of the Sparrowhawk is an exciting, poignant tale with a cast of some very likable characters and some real scoundrels. I should mention that while the war is the cause of everyone's unhappiness, it is really a postwar tale so readers may find Farrant's descriptions of France somewhat graphic, though not overwhelming so. For American readers who may not be familiar with narrowboats, there is an illustration at the front of the book, as well as a great description of the boat's interior at the beginning of the story. There is also a map and timeline of the journey Ben and Lotti undertake.
This is middle grade adventure at its best!
This book is recommended fro readers age 9+
This book was an eARC received from Edelweiss+
meesecheese's review
adventurous
emotional
sad
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Grief, and Death of parent
bluewithstars's review against another edition
5.0
I have read this as part of the UKLA book awards. It is excellent, such a wonderful story with characters that are impossible not to love. It is a story that will stay with me and I know I will read this again.
emileereadsbooks's review
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
4.75
Thank you Netgalley and Norton Young Readers for the gifted book I read with the library audio.
This book is why I love middle grade so much. Each character has a terribly horrible backstory and the circumstances are grim, but hope is infused into every plot point. There is an orphan twice over, a rich young heiress with a horrible guardian, a love lost recluse, two charming dogs, a one eyed ship's captain, some kind nuns, and many more delightful characters that accompany this adventurous coming of age tale set just after WWI. The balance of hard truths and unbelievable coincidences is struck beautifully and Deryn Oliver's narration added even more texture to this wonderful tale.