This is my absolute favourite book of all time. I first read it when I was eleven. It was my birthday present, and I thought it looked as very boy-ish (I'm a girl) so I didn't pick it up straight away. Then later that year I had the 'flu and it was the only book in my room …more that I hadn't read. Once I started I found that I couldn't pull away. The imagery created by Jacques is just astounding: I felt as though I was there. Brian Jacques really gets you feeling for Neb/Ben and Den/Ned. By the sad end, I had grown really attached to them, they seemed real.

It's been four years since I first picked up Castways of the Flying Dutchman and finished it in the early hours of Tuesday morning, and I still haven't found a book that has gripped me more, a book that touched me more, or book that had a more profound effect on me. Castways is the book that I think should be in every library and on every book shelf. My tattered copy knows too: this book is a sure keeper. (less)