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Reviews of The Wanderer by Sharon Creech

The Wanderer by Sharon Creech

The Wanderer

by Sharon Creech
  • Critics' Consensus:
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  • First Published:
  • Apr 1, 2000
  • Paperback:
  • Apr 2002
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About This Book

Book Summary

An adventure-filled story of a courageous girl's journey across the ocean and into the memories of her tragic past.

The sea, the sea, the sea. It rolled and rolled and called to me. Come in, it said, come in.

Thirteen-year-old Sophie is the only girl amongst the surly crew of The Wanderer made up of her three uncles and two cousins. They sail across the Atlantic toward England, the land of Bompie, her grandfather. The sea calls to Sophie--promising adventure and the chance to explore and discover. But the personal journey she takes brings her deeper intoa forgotten past than she ever knew she could travel to.

Sophie's thirteen-year-old cousin Cody isn't even sure why his father brought him along on this voyage. Everyone, including his dad, thinks he's nothing but a knuckleheaded doofus. But behind all the goofing off, he wonders if he has the strength to prove himself to the crew and to his father.

Through Sophie's and Cody's travel logs, the amazing experiences of these six wanderers and their perilous journey unfold. Stories of the past and the daily challenges to survice at sea swirl together as The Wanderer sails toward its destination, and its passengers search for their places in the world.

Newbery Award winner Sharon Creech's newest novel is an adventure-filled story of a courageous girl's journey across the ocean and into the memories of her tragic past. Sophie's struggle to reclaim who she is inspires similar exploration from those around her-- as the crew discovers the joys and trials of belonging to a family.

Chapter One
The Sea

The sea, the sea, the sea. It rolled and rolled and called to me. Come in, it said, come in.

And in I went, floating, rolling, splashing, swimming, and the sea called, Come out, come out, and further I went but always it swept me back to shore.

And still the sea called, Come out, come out, and in boats I went'in rowboats and dinghies and motorboats, and after I learned to sail, I flew over the water, with only the sounds of the wind and the water and the birds, all of them calling, Sail on, sail on.

And what I wanted to do was go on and on, across the sea, alone with the water and the wind and the birds, but some said I was too young and the sea was a dangerous temptress, and at night I dreamed a terrible dream. A wall of water, towering, black, crept up behind me and hovered over me and then down, down it came, but always I awoke before the water covered me, and always I felt as if I were floating when I woke up.


Chapter Two
Three Sides

I ...

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Reviews

Media Reviews

School Library Journal
[The Wanderer] is a beautifully written and imaginatively constructed novel that speaks to the power of survival and the delicacy of grief.

School Library Journal
[The Wanderer] is a beautifully written and imaginatively constructed novel that speaks to the power of survival and the delicacy of grief.

Kirkus Reviews
Creech again crafts a profound tale of simultaneous inner and outer journeys.... [The Wanderer] is a multilayered tale, combining bracing, open-air adventure with personal growth, in its protagonist and in much of the strong supporting cast as well.

Publisher's Weekly
Like Creech's Walk Two Moons and Chasing Redbird, this intimate novel poetically connects journey with self-discovery.... Creech once again captures the ebb and flow of a vulnerable teen's emotional life, in this enticing blend of adventure and reflection.

Publisher's Weekly
Like Creech's Walk Two Moons and Chasing Redbird, this intimate novel poetically connects journey with self-discovery.... Creech once again captures the ebb and flow of a vulnerable teen's emotional life, in this enticing blend of adventure and reflection.

The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Sophie is a quietly luminous heroine, and readers will rejoice in her voyage.

Reader Reviews

Giselle

the wanderer
I really, absolutely loved this book! If Sharon Creech made a sequel to this book I would definitely read it because it would be an awesome book. I love the connections in this book like Mo and Cody because at first their connection wasn't that close...   Read More
deanna

the wanderer
My fav character in the book was Sophie. I never wanted the to end. I almost fell of my seat reading it.
Kate

5 star
This book was great I didn't want it to end. This book left me on the edge of my seat at all times of the book all I have to say is this was just a great book.
michael

The wanderer by sharon ceech
What does Sophie's mother do when Sophie calls? (from Section III - The Island)

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