WELCOME TO AUSTRALIAN USED HOMESCHOOL BOOKS!
HISTORICAL FICTION - THE AGE OF DISCOVERY & EXPLORATION
PICTURE BOOKS
The Lucky Sovereign (Stewart Lees) $6 HB EC Sam and his father sail from England to America in 1616 to begin a new life in Jamestown, but they run into trouble when their money is stolen and they have to defend themselves in court. A great adventure story accompanied by powerful illustrations and an historical note on Jamestown, vividly recreates 17th century life on the high seas. 5-9 YO http://www.stewartlees.co.uk/page9a.html
The Black Pirates And The Silver Net (Sheila McCullagh) $1 PB VGC (Ex lib) Part of a series ‘The Griffin Pirate Stories’ collection of books written as a scheme for primary schools. Attractive illustrations and a great read for 6-9 YO http://www.amazon.co.uk/Griffin-Pirate-Stories-Black-Silver/dp/0560000510/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1288492213&sr=1-6
The Breaking Of The Chain (Shelia McCullagh) $1 PB VGC (Ex lib) Part of a series ‘The Griffin Pirate Stories’ collection of books written as a scheme for primary schools. Attractive illustrations and a great read for 6-9 YO http://www.amazon.co.uk/Griffin-Pirate-Stories-Breaking-McCullagh/dp/0560005520
The Mysterious Hubbub (Amanda Walsh) $3 HBDJ GC The passengers and crew of an old sailing ship encounter strange sounds and voices in a peaceful sea, what can it be?? Wonderful illustrations showing intricate details of the ships, warfare and dress of this era enhance this interesting book. 6-10 YO http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-media/product-gallery/0395537835/ref=cm_ciu_pdp_images_all
CHAPTER BOOKS & NOVELS
Battle Fleet: Trafalgar - 1805 (Paul Dowswell) $6 PB EC (Ex lib) Sam is desperate to leave his sleepy Norfolk village and see the world. He seizes the chance to join a merchant ship but soon discovers that a life at sea is harsh and often short, especially when his ship is attacked by a French privateer. About to be boarded, they fear all is lost, but the privateers are driven off by the appearance of a Royal Navy ship. Sam's relief is short-lived. Soon after, another Navy ship sends over a press gang, and he is forced to join the frigate Miranda. War with France and Spain is raging and Sam is caught in the middle with a dangerous job as a powder monkey in the company of a brutal crew. An amazingly well-researched adventure giving a glimpse of one boy's incredible life at sea. 11+ http://www.borders.com.au/book/battle-fleet-trafalgar-1805/3569541/
Child O’War: The True Story of a Boy Sailor in Nelson’s Navy (Leon Garfield) $5 HBDJ GC (Ex lib) A fictional tale based on the true life story of Sir John Theophilus Lee, who joined the British Navy at the tender age of five. 11+ http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/g/leon-garfield/child-o-war.htm
Castors Away! (Hester Burton) $6 HBDJ EC (Ex lib) A gripping story about the battle of Trafalgar during the Napoleonic wars and features the Henchman family: the father, a family doctor, his wife, and their three children. The family has come to spend some of the summer holidays with their aunt, who lives on a farm near the sea. After a great storm the children find a soldier who was washed ashore from a transport ship which was wrecked by the storm, but when his regiment captain comes to reclaim him, they find that he is charged with being drunk on duty and sentenced with 200 lashes, which in his weakened condition, will surely kill him. The children are determined to rescue their soldier. This they manage to do, with some surprising results. This book is well written, fast paced, sometimes intense, and based on an actual event in history, although the children themselves are created by the author. Hester Burton's forte is English historical fiction, written for young adults. Her research is impeccable and she has the ability to get inside the minds of the young people living through an intense and important time in history, telling what they were thinking and feeling, and how they met the challenges with courage and integrity. 11+ http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/second-hand-books/559453
Fifty Thousand Overcoats (Frank Eccles) $4 HBDJ GC Written for older children this story concerns a British ship's owner/captain, who comes out of retirement when he believes his ship is being used for nefarious purposes. With his adopted son he is forced to sail in his ship, which is now being used as a blockade runner attempting to take supplies, including the entitled overcoats, to Bonaparte's army in Russia. Apparently based on a true incident in 1812. 11+ http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fifty-Thousand-Overcoats-Frank-Eccles/dp/0460058800
Richard Bolitho – Midshipman (Alexander Kent) $5 HBDJ VGC (Ex lib, tape residue) In 1772 a sixteen-year-old midshipman joins the crew of the "Gorgon" whose mission is to investigate the slave trade on Africa's west coast. 12+ http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/k/alexander-kent/richard-bolitho-midshipman.htm
Band Of Brothers (Alexander Kent) $5 PB VGC A high seas novel in which the new year of 1774 seems to offer Richard Bolitho and his friend Martyn Dancer the culmination of a dream. Both have been recommended for promotion, although they have not yet gained the coveted lieutenant's commission. But a routine passage from Plymouth to Guernsey in an untried schooner becomes, for Bolitho, a passage from midshipman to King's officer, tempering the promise of the future with the bitter price of maturity. 11+ http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/images/0434010103/ref=dp_image_text_0?ie=UTF8&n=266239&s=books
The Gunner’s Boy (Jacynth Hope-Simpson) $4 HBDJ GC (Ex lib - endpaper removed) The last fight of the Revenge became a legend of heroism hundreds of years ago. Here the author tells the tale again, through the eyes of young Mark Lawrey, the parson’s son from Buckland. Mark was a scholar, unfitted – or so it seemed – for the harsh life onboard a man-o’-war off to prey on the Spanish treasure fleet. After some terrifying experiences up in the Revenge’s rigging, Mark is found more suitable duties as the ship’s gunner boy, and was to become embroiled in a desperate battle for survival when the ship is surrounded by an enemy Spanish fleet. 10+ http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/customer-media/product-gallery/0434943150/ref=cm_ciu_pdp_images_all
Gunner’s Boy (Ann Turnbull) $5 HB EC (Ex lib) Set in England in 1588: the Spanish Armada is on its way, and twelve year old John Amery joins the Royal Navy as a gunner's boy. John's father was killed by the Spaniards so he is desperate to help fight the advancing Spanish fleet. But in the end, it is not revenge he is seeking... 10+ http://www.annturnbull.com/books/gunnersboy.htm
The Astrolabe: Adventure On The Southern Seas (Susan Arnott) $5 PB EC (Ex lib) Based on the ship's journal of the explorer Captain Jules Dumont d'Urville of the historic Astrolabe, this is the story of Lucien, the ten-year-old cabin boy and their three year adventure, which takes them from France all the way to Australia and back again. 9+ http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/images/0734408188/ref=dp_image_text_0?ie=UTF8&n=266239&s=books
Masterman Ready (Captain Marryat) $3 PB GC This is a vivacious juvenile novel that captures exhilarating adventures related to sea life in the 1800s. The novel is full of wit and excited accounts based on Marryat’s practical experiences. It is marvellous specimen of nautical fiction and worth-read for those who have passion for invigorating and exciting venture. 11+ http://www.amazon.com/Masterman-Ready-Captain-Marryat/dp/1854712489
Classic Library “Moonfleet” (J. Meade Falkner) $4 HB VGC Begins as a mystery and an adventure story, a tale of smuggling set among the cliffs, caves, and downs of Dorset in the 18th century. What will be the outcome of the conflict between smugglers and revenue men? How can the hero, John Trenchard, discover the secret of Colonel John Mohune's treasure? As the book progresses these two interwoven themes resolve themselves into a third and richer one, with the friendship and suffering of both John Trenchard and the craggy, taciturn Elzevir Block. Falkner's feeling for history and for the landscape of his Dorset setting combine with his gift for storytelling to turn Moonfleet into a historical adventure of moving intensity. 11+ http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/f/john-meade-falkner/moonfleet.htm (Cover different)
Cargo For A King (J.S. Andrews) $5 HBDJ GC (Ex lib) In 1208 a young Manx seaman sails through the pirate-infested waters off the coast of northern Ireland in search of his captured cousin and revenge for his father's murder. 11+ http://members.cox.net/sjrohde2/images/books_a/andrews_cargo_jhb73.gif (Different cover)
The Post Captain (John Davis) $2 PB GC First published in 1805, the year of the Battle of Trafalgar and the death of Nelson, this novel is about the sailing navy, written by one of its midshipmen and offers a view of naval society and manners in the reign of George III. It is different and unique among sailing navy novels in being funny. It is almost certainly the only surviving contemporary humorous sea story of the Nelson period. Containing also a choice collection of sea and other songs as well as an historical introduction and glossary. 12+ http://worldbookmarket.com/images/books/10057/mon0000037455.jpg
Piano Bay (Roger Vaughan Carr) $2 PB GC Piano Bay is a powerful story of morality set in the 1870s that is as relevant today when personal greed pervades our societies. Tam O'Flaherty grew up believing the magnificent ships that sailed the sea-roads beyond the wild and untamed shore where he lived with his father, were like the see heads of rushes ready to burst open and strew the beaches - not with seeds - but with riches beyond their wildest dreams. 11+ http://www.nomadfilmsinternational.com/PianoBay.htm
Orchard Readalones “The Voyage Of The Purple Prawn” (Andrew Matthews) $3 PB VGC (Ex lib) This is the swashbuckling tale of a search for buried treasure. The notorious pirate Captain Thinscratch meets his match in the weedy, but wily Crispin Chickweed who holds the secret to the missing portion of a treasure map. 6-9 YO http://translate.google.com.au/translate?hl=en&sl=zh-TW&u=http://findbook.tw/b/ISBN/1852138785&ei=0DkKSsSuBoOctgOrmPXWCA&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=3&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3DThe%2BVoyage%2BOf%2BThe%2BPurple%2BPrawn%2B(Andrew%2BMatthews)%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26channel%3Ds%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-GB:official%26hs%3DpqP%26sa%3DN%26start%3D20
Treasure Island $2 PB GC One of the most loved adventure stories of all time, "Treasure Island" is the swashbuckling tale of the search for hidden treasure. When an old sea captain by the name of Billy Bones dies at the inn of Jim Hawkins' parents, Jim and his mother discover a treasure map among his belongings. Jim shows the map to some local acquaintances, Dr. Livesey and Squire Trelawney and together they plan an expedition to find the treasure. Together they set sail aboard the Hispaniola led by a Captain Smollett in search of Treasure Island. 11+ http://www.amazon.com/Treasure-Island-Signet-Classics-Stevenson/dp/0451527046 (Cover different)
(Last update February, 2011)
