John Newton: The Angry Sailor

I home school my 9 year old son and am always in search of books that will delight and engage him. He enjoys reading, but it is much harder to find a book that will fascinate him than it has been to find books for his older sister. I always pre-read the books I want him to read to check for appropriate content and to make sure the book is not too difficult to read (he is a strong reader, but some terminology in books can make them too frustrating for him). I knew when I began reading this book that any boy would quickly become engrossed and my son proved me right. He couldn't put this book down and he could not stop talking about it. He initally moaned when I gave it to him, but I told him I thought he might really enjoy it. He started reading it and announced "This is a GOOD book!" and then he thanked me for the book when he was finished reading it. I believe he has read it a second time. There are many ethical and moral discussions that can come from this book as well as "life lessons." My son was fascinated that this was a biography because it read much more like an exciting fictional tale. Not only did he enjoy reading the book, my 12 year old daughter and I also throughly enjoyed reading it. The topic matters of slavery, drinking, cursing, disobedience, etc... are handled well and are not too graphic that they are inappropriate for a pre-teen to read and understand. After reading the book it gives much more meaning to the words of Amazing Grace which John Newton wrote after becoming a born again Christian and accepting Christ's redemptive love.

This is one terrific book! Kay Strom has packed in so much information and excitement, it's hard to believe it's a book primarily written for kids and teens. She combines dialogue, action, and narrative into a fast-paced story that readers of all ages can enjoy. She also uses comtemporary American English to avoid bogging down in archaic terms and expressions. Now, all I knew of John Newton before reading her book was that he composed "Amazing Grace." I had no idea he'd been a slave ship captain in his early "lost" years, nor that the harshness and deprivation of his early life was crucial to his coming to belief in later life. Reading of the desperate straits he endured, and the miserable deeds he sometimes committed because of them, gives a whole new meaning to the lines from the hymn which go, "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see." This epitomizes the entire story, but an interested reader would still want to glean every detail Ms. Strom has so thrillingly and believably captured in just 125 pages. This is a story the entire family can enjoy.