Ratings

Content Ratings based on a 0-5 scale where
0 = no objectionable content and
5 = an excessive or disturbing level of content

Guide to Rating System

LANGUAGE

VIOLENCE

SEXUAL CONTENT

ADULT THEMES

2010 Top 10 Best Books for Young Adults (Young Adult Library Services Assoc.)

Ratings Explanation

Language: Two instances of “hell” and several religious exclamations.

Violence: Ben’s father slaps him across the face. There is a violent storm which disables the ship. Dylan falls from a cliff and his compound fracture is described.

Adult Themes: A father and his three sons must deal with the untimely passing of their wife and mother. Ben, at 15-years-old, has an incredibly tense and combative relationship with his father. He blames him for his mother’s death. The father disappears from the boat and Ben believes he has committed suicide. The three boys must survive alone on an uninhabited island.

Synopsis

When 15-year-old Ben’s father announces that he is selling their home and their family will spend the next year sailing in the Bahamas, Ben is not happy. Still reeling from their mother’s death, Ben and his two younger brothers are reluctant to leave the home where all their memories of her still remain, but their Dad’s decision is not up for discussion.

Sailing from Florida, they spend every day together in very close quarters. With no chance for privacy or escape, Ben’s dislike for his father seems to mount daily. The father rules with a heavy hand on board and Ben becomes less and less cooperative. Their story comes to a climax when their father’s disappearance and a violent storm coincide. Circumstances force Ben to take the helm and make sure that he and his brothers survive.

This is one of the best books I have read in a long time! My only hesitation is Ben’s intensely negative relationship with his father. I guess I would rather my kids not know that they could ever dislike me that much. But, alas, I guess they will learn that whether or not they read this book.

Herlong’s writing is incredibly engaging and I had a hard time putting this one down. He is adept at creating very distinct characters in the brothers and I was absolutely heart broken for these three grieving boys. With three boys of my own, I couldn’t help drawing comparisons to our family and some of the similarities made my heart stop. 5-year-old Gerry is afraid of the water and can’t swim, but while his big brothers are busy trying to keep the boat afloat, bravely puts on his life jacket and wedges himself safely between cushions in the cold, dark boat to ride out the terrible storm. 11-year old Dylan is so smart and brave. He figures out a system to make drinking water from sea water and sets traps all over the island, catching a wide and interesting variety of things to eat. Ben, thrust too early into adulthood and the responsibility of keeping his brothers alive, becomes a man before the reader’s eyes and vows to do “whatever it takes” for all three of them to survive. The themes of love, survival, bravery and family run through the book, and the boys’ harrowing experiences create three heroes in the end. Youth who read The Great Wide Sea will find an incredible adventure; parents who read it will enjoy the adventure, but might also catch a glimpse of themselves in the father’s character and will hopefully give some thought to their own children’s potential and capabilities. A touching and thought provoking read –  highly recommended.