Shipwreck

Title: Shipwreck (Island Book One)

Author: Gordon Korman

Genre Study: Contemporary Realistic Fiction grade level 3-5

     Set in present day times, six kids are sent to the Charting a New Course program where they must work on a large ship sailing to Guam.  Each individual has different reasons for being sentenced to this experience by their parents.  Some are avoiding jail time, some watch too much TV, some have had mental breakdowns, and so-on.  While they are on the large ship called the Phoenix, they must do many intense manual labor tasks as the captain and mate order.  Life is miserable for these kids on this ship, especially when they hit a bad storm.  When the captain is lost and then the first mate abandons the six children, they must work together to man the ship by themselves and try to survive. 
     This is the first book of a series, and so my hope is that the next books continue to improve on the story because I found myself bored with the plot line.  In a lot of ways I found this story to relate to the book/movie Holes.  Both stories about a young boy who innocently gets caught in a crime and is sent to an alternative program than jail.  At the camp or program they meet other kids who have their own home life issues and they must work together toward a goal despite the adult figures of the program.  It is a decent story, and is fairly quick, written in a journal type format minus the first-person voice which personally I think would be beneficial for this book.  However, I do think this book and series may interest boys around fourth grade so it could be useful in the classroom.