Summer 2004 Review:

When twelve year old Skiff Beaman's mother dies, Skiff's father gives up his profession as a fisherman and takes to lying on the couch and drinking beer. 
When his boat, the Mary Rose begins to flood, Skiff has to bail the water every day. When the boat eventually sinks, Skiff pulls it back up and discovers that the motor is ruined. To have it repaired would cost five thousand dollars. 
When Skiff finds out how much money a person could make from catching a giant bluefin tuna, he sets out to catch one for himself, so he can have the Mary Rose repaired. 
One night Skiff packs up and heads out into the ocean, riding in a ten foot skiff (his namesake, a very small rowing boat). Once out on the water, he realizes how difficult it will be to catch a bluefin. They move quicker than your eyes can see and can grow up to seven feet long. 
He also encounters a problem when his supplies run short. He didn't bring nearly enough bait for the fish or nearly enough food for himself. 
There are two things that keep Skiff alive, thirty miles from shore: one is his mother's rule of never giving up; the other is the promise he made to her on her deathbed--to take care of his father. 
This book was a little bit hard to get into, but after the first few chapters I read straight through to the end of the book. 
I would recommend this book for 6th through 8th graders.

~ Jordyn Grzelewski, 7th grade, The Montessori School of the Mahoning Valley.