The Young Man and the Sea

By: Rodman Philbrick

0/192

I decided to start reading The Young Man and the Sea because it was the first book I saw on my book shelf.  I’ve read this book before in 6th grade.  Last time I read it I remember liking it a lot.  I remember it being one of those books where you start to read then you can’t stop.  I remember the book was about a boy, I can’t remember his name though, but he was the son of a guy who was always a drunk, well since his mom died his dad was a drunk.  The book was very detailed about his dad never leaving the sofa except to get more beer or food.  I remember that they owned a boat.  The kid would go to the boat everyday to clean it.  One day the kid found a crack in the bottom of the boat.  He temporarily fixed the crack while he went to get an estimate repair.  It turned out to be really expensive.  His dad came down to see if he could fix it, but he couldn’t.  The boat would never be ridden on again, or would it?

The kid went down by the creek to his dad’s old friend and he bought a cheap, small, steel dingy.  A dingy is a small boat powered by paddles.  He starts to fish for lobster.  He’s making money, but he’s not making enough to fix the boat.  He eventually makes enough money to buy better traps that he can put farther out in the ocean.  One day he is paddling around when a huge yellow fin tuna swims right by him.  He cast out a line and he struggles with the large fish for a long time.  He eventually kills it.  It takes him forever to paddle back to land.  Once he does he sells the fish for a ton of money, enough money to fix the boat.  His dad also starts working as a fisherman again.

I wonder if my summary was accurate.  The reasons I want to read this book are that I love action books, and this book is filled with action here and there.  Another reason is because my family and I love the beach and that’s where this story takes place.  My favorite part I can remember is when he rows back to shore after catching a huge bluefin tuna.  It took a lot of bravery to go that far out into the ocean in a tiny dingy.  I know I would have thought twice about doing it.  I’m pretty sure I’ll like this book a lot, but I’ll have to read the book and find out.