Tommy Ellis Goes to Sea


Young Adult - Action
182 Pages
Reviewed on 01/16/2015
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    Book Review

Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite

Tommy Ellis Goes to Sea is a coming of age story written by Jes Parkin. It's set in 1959 in Hull, a fishing community in Northeastern England. Tommy has just completed his first year of high school and is anticipating the six-week summer vacation, but this vacation will be very different from the previous ones. His father, the skipper of a fishing trawler, has invited Tommy to go with him on the next three-week fishing trip. Tommy has never really gotten to know his father very well as he's only home for a few days between each trip. Tommy's a bit nervous about meeting his father's expectations. When he's woken by his father at 3 in the morning, his dream of sinking in a tumultuous ocean is still fresh in his mind. The father and son eat a quiet early breakfast and then take a taxi to the wharf where the Stella Vega waits.

Jes Parkin's coming of age tale, Tommy Ellis Goes to Sea, is filled with action and adventure as the skipper's boy learns to interact with the crew on the fishing trawler. I empathized with Tommy's lack of confidence as he encounters the new and strange world of his father and reveled in his growing confidence as he peels taties and makes tea, pilots the trawler and learns to be more than just the skipper's son -- to be an actual part of the crew. Parkin's descriptions of the waves and weather as the Stella Vega heads north to the Arctic circle are brilliant, especially the storm sequences. Tommy Ellis Goes to Sea has all the elements of a modern classic sea-faring adventure tale; it's well-written, fast-paced and filled with the sound and fury of the elements. Tommy Ellis Goes to Sea is marvelous and most highly recommended.