The Great Wide Sea

• #46 in Best Sailing Books

18 Reviews

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As a fifth grade teacher, I find it difficult to find books that appeal to everyone in my class. I either please the girls, or the boys, and usually it's just the girls. Finally, I have found a book that all of my students enjoy. In fact, for the first time, both boys and girls are begging, "Don't stop. Please keep reading." I even have students begging to take it home so that they can find out what happens next. The Great Wide Sea, by M. H. Herlong, is spell-binding, (even for the adults)!

The spectacular achievement of this book is that it shows dads what they look like to their teenage sons. It holds the mirror of your son's eyes right up close, where all the unflattering things show. Then it shows us that our sons love us anyway. I finished the book, wiped a way a tear -- something I almost never need to do -- and hugged my sons.

It is definitely a terrific sea yarn. Like all great books, it builds in some wise observations about life without being the least bit preachy. Perhaps that is because the wisdom comes through the voice of a fifteen-year old who, after struggling with dad, becomes the father figure through chance, or maybe through a choice (a question you will have to answer for yourself, Dad). There are also some sly allusions to Hemingway sea tales and to Hurricane Katrina (the author is from New Orleans), but maybe I just made that up.

Read the two-page prologue and you will be hooked. Give it to your son. Give it to your Dad. Read it with your son, or for your husband, or your brother. Sail in your son's boat (or your father, husband, or brother's boat) for a while.

If this is a tale oft told, I can think of no other than has been told so eloquently. The author's descriptions are as vivid as they are beautiful. Male or female, young or old, you will find this first work by M. H. Herlong touching and incisive. If the last portion of the book doesn't bring a tear to your eye, you are cold indeed. Add the information provided at the companion website [...] and you will double your pleasure.

I received this book Friday and read it in one sitting on Sunday. It is excellent in so many dimensions. Young readers will love the gripping plot in the fascinating nautical setting, as well as how the boys, with only themselves to rely on, manage to survive. Older readers will appreciate the near-poetic quality of the prose. Having said that, I have to confess that I was so enthralled by the plot that I hardly had time to appreciate the marvelous language. I may just have to read the book again, slower!!

This book captures the imagination both as a beautiful and harrowing adventure story and a drama of family loss. The aftermath of his mother's death challenges the narrator's relationship with his father. But when Ben confronts a life and death struggle at sea his bond to his young brothers becomes the focus of this gripping tale.

suspenseful adventure...insightful characterizations...powerful language...what a gift Madaline Herlong has given to young adult readers and classroom teachers! J. Danos

This incredible first novel is a gripping and extremely well told adventure tale that will keep you turning page after page. Though her vivid descriptions will have you feeling each toss and sway of the boat, you realize it is much more. Told through the eyes of the oldest son, it is a poignant story of a family coming to grips with a terrible loss and it is the bond between the father and his sons and the siblings with each other that will ultimately resound in your memory. This is a wonderful story of loss, love, perceived betrayal, and peace. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to future publications by Ms. Herlong.

Artist create paintings to tell a story or to depict an emotion choosing pigments, mixing the colors, and using various stroke techniques to create a work of art. M.H. Herlong has done this with words creating a masterpiece of literature. She skillfully paints the picture of every character and scene leading the reader through a captivating tale that one cannot put down.

A grieving father who has just lost his wife sells everything, buys a sailboat, and leaves with his three sons to sail the Caribbean for a year. Readers would expect that this might be a journey that gives them back their life as a family unit. And it is, but it is much more than that. The oldest son, Ben, is fifteen--old enough to feel some responsibility for his younger brothers, old enough to be thinking of his life as separate from that with his family, and of the age to question the character of his own father. So the journey does become a test for each family member's strength as well as the bonds with each other. But the other journey, the journey of Ben's perception of his father from failure to fallible is an equally perilous journey.

There are similarities between The Great Wide Sea and Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. Paulsen captures the fear and desparation of a young boy alone in the wilderness with nothing to help him survive but a good knife. Herlong's story doesn't deliver as much of the urgency of surviving the ferocity of nature, but it delivers much more in the interior workings of a teen-age boy and the ferocity of coming of age.

Kids who like to sail from age nine on up should enjoy this book. While there is plenty of suspense, this is not an action packed story. It is more of a tale that rings true. I am no sailor and well past nine-years-old and I loved it.

This book is Great! I couldn't put it down!

After reading this book I had a lot of questions about what the sail boat actually looked like, how are the Bahama Islands laid out, and more and I was thrilled to find the companion web site with lots of pictures and maps that go along with the story in the book. To find the companion web site, type in the title of the book plus a dot com. Include the word "the" Amazon deletes any outside links placed in a review.

This is one of my all time favorite books, the writing is simple but profound. You feel like you are there, riding along on this adventure, learning a lot about the Bahamas, sailing, and survival while you're at it. And this book really captures the dynamics between the teenage son and his father, the boy's the pushing away and rebellion mixed with a longing of wanting things the way they used to be. Great story, great ending.

Ben doesn't want to spend a year on a sailing trip with his father and brothers recovering from his mother's sudden death, but he's on the trip anyway - so when disaster strikes and the father vanishes halfway between the Bahamas and Bermuda, it's up to him and his brothers to survive a storm, a shipwreck, and more. Survival on many levels is a key issue in THE GREAT WIDE SEA, a riveting story for middle to high school leisure readers.

This book was apalling from the very beginning. The characters involved in this book are so unimaginable and unrealistic. I have never been so bored with a book...the climax at best was uninteresting and full of yawns. The scenario was pretty much stupid and a horrendous example for anyone dealing with a dilemna alike to this. Save your money and read something more exciting - perhaps The Hunger Games or The Mortal Instruments Series, both quite advantageous reads.

A great engaging read in dealing with survival issues associated with a family dealing with the death of a loved one, with the struggles between adolescence and parent, and with those struggles associated with the survival of the fittest.

I have to say that after reading all the 5 star ratings I had high hopes for this book, and was a bit dissappointed. This book has a great sotry about relationships between brothers, and fathers and sons. The author did a great job writing about the emotions each character. However it seems the plot was quickly arranged with simple, rough and blunt phrases and sentences. I think for youth this wouldn't be a negative, but I personally wished the story of the day to day events was given the attention he put into explaining the feelings of each character. Great message in the end. I liked it and recommend it but probably won't read again.

I read this book all in one sitting, today, and I loved it. Couldn't put it down.

A 30 foot sailboat out on the ocean. A father and three sons. What happens when the boys wake up one morning and their father is missing? The oldest boy, Ben, is only fifteen, and now he's in charge of Dylan, ten, and Gerry, who's only five. This adventure book for middle school readers had me in its grip from the first page.

The story begins in sadness. The mother of the boys recently died in a car accident and since then their father has barely been able to cope. One day he decides they'll sell the house, buy a boat, and sail for a year. The boys are still grieving and they don't want to go, but their father doesn't give them a choice.

At first they spend leisurely weeks at one or another of the Bahama islands. The older two boys are expected to learn how to repair the engine, navigate, and work the radio. They don't mind, even if it isn't exactly what they want to be doing. But then their father decides that they will sail to Bermuda, 900 miles out into the ocean...and after that cross the Atlantic to Spain. Ben argues but his dad is adamant.

Soon after, their father disappears one night while on watch. Is the note he left a suicide note? Before the boys can decide what to do next, a storm looms on the horizon. Now their very survival is at stake.

The Great Wide Sea had me enthralled and the characters held my attention all the way through. The father is believable, if not likable, as a man who feels lost and uses sailing as a way to keep going. Middle school readers will empathize with Ben's anger when his father turns their lives upside-down. And when the boys are on their own out in the ocean and Ben must take charge, they'll applaud his resourcefulness. Ten year old Dylan, a budding astronomer, has his head up in the stars, but later shows down-to-earth skills that the other two rely on. Even Gerry, age five, shows courage beyond his years.

Herlong's writing style entertained and moved me. As the best writers do, she finds the surprising turn of phrase that perfectly captures the moment.

Reading level: 10 and up. This book will grab both middle school and teen readers.

Ben was supposed to get a car when he turned 15. Instead, he finds himself on a sailboat in the Bahamas with his two younger brothers and his father. For a year, their father promises, they will sail from island to island, enjoying the high seas. What Ben's father doesn't say is that he is running away from the memory of their mother--recently deceased.

Ben doesn't want to be on the boat where he, his brothers and his father are crammed tightly together. Ben doesn't want to take orders from his father-captain who has uprooted the whole family, selling Ben's childhood home and family sailboat, to live on the ocean. Ben is angry, furious, and sad--understandably so. But life goes on, and for a while it seems everything is going as well as it can go.

Until Ben's father disappears. There's no way to tell if he jumped or fell, and there's no time to think about it because Ben and his brothers must survive a massive storm without their father, without a radio, and without a GPS.

As Ben slips into his father's role, struggling to keep himself and his brothers alive, he learns something about love, family, devotion, and courage.

M. H. Herlong's debut novel is at turns a thrilling, contemplative, and sad adventure story about a family dealing with the wounds of loss. Ben is a compelling and sympathetic narrator with a clear voice, while the rest of the characters are well-developed. Ben is never preachy and his love for his brothers palpable. The final scene might even bring some readers to tears.

The Great Wide Sea will especially appeal to fans of survival stories as well as readers who enjoy sailing. However, I think anyone who reads this book will be drawn into the well-written adventure and quiet family drama.

Although the sailing and nautical terms can get somewhat technical, M. H. Herlong has a wonderful companion site that provides lots of information about sailing, navigation, and the boys' adventure. Teachers who wish to teach this book will find it an excellent resource.

This is a wonderful book, written with an authentic knowledge of sailing. Herlong knows the mind of young males and captures the voice to make this a compelling story. She has crafted interesting characters--people we care about--as well as a story that is fascinating, flawless, and satisfying. This may be her first published novel, but it seems like she has managed to channel Madeleine L'Engle. I look forward to many more wonderful books by this author. As a developmental reading teacher in a community college, I am excited to have found a book my students enjoy talking about to others.