Eben Tyne, Powdermonkey

"Swimming hard, the need for haste giving him surprising strength, Eben Tyne pushed the raft in front of him and made for the shore. How badly had his father been hurt? What of the other two?" -Eben Tyne, Powdermonkey In Patrica Beatty's and Phillip Robbins' Eben Tyne, Powdermonkey, Eben, a thirteen-year-old boy, joins the Lucy during the Civil War to set torpedoes in the bay. The Lucy, a Confederate ship, fights against a Union ship, the Shriek. The Shriek sinks the Lucy. Before it goes completely under, Eben builds a crude raft with loose planks on the ship. Eben saves the unconscious crew by rowing them to shore. The Shriek also sinks when it hits a torpedo and blows up. Some men on shore see what Eben does and ask him to work on the Confederate ironclad ship, the Merrimack. I think most boys, ages 10-15, would like this book. There are lots of bloody battles and some explosives. There are some parts where the language might be inappropriate for younger kids.