The Wanderer
Written by Sharon Creech
Reviewed by Gregory J. (age 11)
The main character in the book is Sophie. Sophie is a thirteen-year-old girl. She was adopted; her biological parents died when she was very little. Sophie has two cousins named Brian and Cody. They are pretty much the same age as her. She wants to go and meet her grandfather named Bompie.
The book takes place on a boat called "The Wanderer". Sophie, her two cousins and her three uncles went on a boat to England. Sophie and Cody wrote the book in journal entries as they traveled on the boat. They sail across the Atlantic to England from Connecticut.
Sophie, Cody, Brian, Uncle Dock, Uncle Mo and Uncle Stew sailed to England. They did this because they wanted to see Bompie, Sophie, Cody and Brian's grandfather and Uncle Dock, Uncle Mo and Uncle Stew's father. During the journey Sophie tries to be part of the family. Since Sophie is pretty new to the family she really wants to be a part of it. She has told everyone that she has met Bompie and he has told her many stories of his life. The truth is that Bompie wrote her letters to welcome her into the family and in those letters he wrote all of his stories. Sophie thinks about her real parents a lot during the trip and how they died. Especially when the crew almost died during a very bad storm. When Sophie would tell her cousins and her uncle's stories, she would get mixed up sometimes and think Bompie was her real grandfather. Sophie's biggest challenge was to fit into the family. She really wanted to be part of a family.
Sophie got to know her cousins and uncles much better. She also finally got to meet Bompie. Throughout the journey, Sophie really came to appreciate family. When the storm hit, Sophie thought about her real parents and how they died. She stopped being secretive about being adopted. The journey helped Sophie become more honest with herself about her life.
My favorite part of the book was when they met Bompie. It was my favorite part because they had been looking forward to meeting Bompie for so long. It was interesting to hear Bompie tell the stories about his life that he had written Sophie about. I liked this part because they were so happy to see Bompie and he was so happy to see them. Also, I liked it because it was the first time Sophie had met Bompie. Meeting Bompie really made Sophie feel like she was a part of the family.
I thought it was a good book because it was about sailing. I liked learning a little bit about sailing by reading the book. I liked the way the book was written with the journal entries by Sophie and Cody. I liked this because it was interesting to hear their views of what happened during the journey. I also liked how all of them liked Bompie and how they all told nice stories about him. It was neat that they traveled so far to see him in England. I would recommend this book because it had lots of adventures and it was exciting.