Carry On, Mr. Bowditch

"Sometimes, if you look at the stars long enough, they sort of shrink your troubles down to size." Some guys can see around corners and some gals have eyes in the back of their hearts. I'm not familiar with Nat Bowditch. I don't know how much liberty Jean Lee Latham took with Nat Bowditch's life details but regardless, it's a good story to tell. Many men lose their life to "book sailing" on the sea while even more men, women... Read Full Review

The first time I met this book, my dad read it to me. I remember being quite sad at parts of this true story re-told in fiction... The 1700s and 1800s were hard times on life expectancy. Nat Bowditch was dedicated to learning and was quite the self-starter when it came to education (language-learning, mathematics, etc). I think that is what impressed me so much about him and drew me to his story. Since that first read-through,... Read Full Review

Carry On, Mr. Bowditch contains absolutely fascinating background information about Salem and navigation in the 1700s, providing a valuable context for Nathaniel Bowditch's contributions to maritime navigation and allowing the reader to more fully understand just how remarkable and important they were. It is quite inspiring to read how Nathaniel Bowditch, who experienced many traumatic events in his youth and childhood, made... Read Full Review

As a small country strives for her freedom, a small boy also fights to be free. And as that country grows into the powerful United States, the boy grows also. Nathaniel Bowditch- a small boy in a poor family who has a history of mariners, with a curiosity and a love for math. Nat's dream is to enter Harvard and get a degree. However, that dream is cut short when his father sends him to be apprenticed to a bookkeeper because... Read Full Review

This story is an incredible true tale of a simple young boy who is forced into an apprenticeship by his father. Rather than letting his new life depress him, he began the process of educating himself. He found he had a talent for math and navigation, and became a famous navigator at sea. I could not put this story down, even though it was written a long time ago and is a historical novel.