THE MEMOIRS OF ANDREW SHERBURNE

In 1828, Sherburne published his memoirs as his one legacy to his heirs; here, Zeinert selects the part of greatest interest for a young audience—the author's peregrinations of the Atlantic during the Revolution. Only 13 at the outset of his first voyage, Sherburne joined countless other boys seeking adventure and wealth in their country's service, surviving storm, capture, frigid weather, inadequate food and clothing, shipwreck, and severe illness, all resulting in a lifetime of ill health, so that, too frail for the sea, Sherburne tried teaching and later became a minister. Unfortunately, his old-fashioned, formal style and challenging vocabulary make this an unlikely history supplement. The writer never emerges as an involved or involving personality, and his adventures are recollected in a style and manner too unimpassioned to engage young readers. The pedestrian b&w illustrations add little; a map of Newfoundland lacks places mentioned in the text. Introduction; note; timeline; afterword; glossary; bibliography. (Autobiography. 11-14)