Jacob Two-Two on the High Seas

It is always sad when a giant of the literary world passes away, thus our loss was great when Mordecai Richler died 8 years ago. Fortunately, he left a rich legacy for all to enjoy including The Apprenticeship of Duddy Cravats, and especially for children the Jacob Two-Two stories. We're told that Richler had always intended to continue the adventures of his pint-size hero, Jacob, but for a while it seemed that was not to be. Now, fully supported by the Richler family award winning author Cary Fagan (Ten Old Men and a Mouse, My New Shirt) brings Jacob to life again in an enchanting sea-worthy tale winningly illustrated by Dusan Petricic. Jacob, we remember, is a boy to whom young readers can easily relate. He was given his rather odd name because he has two older brothers and two older sisters, his age was two plus two plus two years, and "...because nobody in his family ever heard him the first time, so he had to say everything two times." Jacob didn't like his name at all. Further, his birthday was approaching and he feared since he would no longer be Two-Two his brothers and sisters would take great pleasure in teasing him by renaming his "Jacob Two-Two Plus One." The only way he could think of to avoid this was to somehow see that his family forgot his birthday. That was quite a sacrifice because he wouldn't receive any presents, yet he was willing to do that, but how? Luckily for him his father had news - the family would be moving from England to Canada and would be crossing the ocean on a ship. Since there were no more tickets on the Queen Elizabeth 11 they'd be going on the SS Spring-a-Leak. Jacob meets may interesting new friends on board ship but there's trouble on the horizon in the form of a ship flying the Jolly Roger! How could one small boy possibly deal with pirates? Jacob Two-Two on the High Seas is a more than welcome gift for young readers. Enjoy! - Gail Cooke