POWDER MONKEY BY DONNA M. McDINE

TITLE : POWDER MONKEY

AUTHOR : DONNA M. McDINE

ILLUSTRATIONS BY : K.C. SNIDER

Ladies and Gentlemen, the award winning children’s author Donna M. McDine is back!
 This time she has two books to offer. I will be posting reviews for both of her new books. This review is about Powder Monkey.

Powder Monkey takes you back to that dark era of history when the Royal Press gang used to kidnap young boys from their homes and turn them forcibly into sailors and their powder boys.

This story is about a twelve year old boy Tommy, who along with his brother and some other boys is kidnapped from his home. He and the other boys are taken aboard a large ship where they become the minions of the crew. The boys are subjected to brutality. One day their ship is attacked at high sea and Tommy becomes the powder boy for the gang and in process loses his ability to hear.What happens to Tommy after the gun battle is over?  What about his elder brother and his parents ….. Is he reunited with his family? Does the book have a happy ending? Do read on.

It is a compelling book, despite it being a children’s book I was forced to turn the pages and finish the story as quickly I could read.

 The first time I read the story it left me with goose bumps. This book brings out the harsh reality faced by the young boys of those times to light. Though the story is fiction, woven around the facts of those dark days, it still brought tears to my eyes.

Donna M.McDine has done a wonderful job again along with the illustrator K.C.Snider whose illustrations are very vivid.

Parents, if you want your children to know a little about history and the harsh reality of life of the days gone by than this book comes highly recommended.