LOST AT SEA

Can three children and their catatonic mother survive crossing the Atlantic in a sailboat? Lots of dubious events swirl through this quick-paced thriller as three young children who have never sailed embark on a boat manned by their mother and her new boyfriend, a seasoned seat-of-the-pants sailor. However, despite his experience, he has just time enough to teach the kids to steer and improbably disable the engine before falling overboard. The three children must take care of mum, who has a history of mental illness and takes to her bed, overwhelmed and silent. Jack and Orrie, the two older kids, speak in a clipped storyline that never hedges. Improbably, they don’t turn back, deciding to cross the Atlantic where their biological father awaits. They alternately stand watches around the clock on their near month-long journey while Andy, the seven-year-old, cooks. And even more unlikely, they eschew rescue by a freighter, facing a Force Ten (violent gale) storm and, yes, surviving. And guess what? Mum wakes up just in time to determine they are (only) 200 miles off course. There is little more than the adventure to recommend this, as author Neale plumbs no depths of the real effects of fear or fatigue. There are some nuances of character, e.g., when Andy tells unresponding Mum a story, or when Jack sails on, fantasizing about a girl he barely met. But this is a gripping narrative, and its simplicity may be ideal for children with trouble reading. (Fiction. 8-12)