Search results for ""Author John G. Thomson""

From swimming to the bottom of the ocean to reclaim a sunken boat, to standing up to bullies, to asking questions that might have painful answers, twelve year-old Donovan Sanger has some capabilities that the grown-ups around don't. This is why his dad has asked Donovan to go spend the summer with an Aunt and Uncle he barely knows. Aunt Hattie has become very ill with lung cancer and she and Uncle Bix need "a little moral support," as Donovan’s dad puts it. Uncle Bix is a mechanical genius who just a couple of years ago was released from jail for his role in a robbery. Before a week goes by, Donovan is sent underwater in a wetsuit so small he can barely breathe, is given a very short haircut in his sleep by Uncle Bix, who says it will "give him some strength," and learns that his uncle’s criminal past might be something he has not entirely left behind. As the summer progresses, Donovan helps brings a boat up from the bottom of Puget Sound and care for his Aunt, all the while trying to discover just what Uncle Bix is doing at secret meetings with his ex-convict friends.

Read more less

When twelve-year-old Donovan Sanger is sent to spend the summer with his Uncle Bix—an ex-con—and his Aunt Hattie, who is dying from lung cancer, he does not know what to expect. But at least he’ll get away from his twin sisters, Holly and Heather, “The Two H’s,” who once painted his toes while he slept. Before a week goes by, Donovan is recruited to help Bix retrieve the motor from a sunken boat, given a flattop short as a golf green, and learns that his uncle’s criminal past might be something he has not entirely left behind. A perfect reading adventure—hailed as “moving and believable” (New York Times)—A Small Boat at the Bottom of the Sea is a rich exploration of the courage it takes to attain redemption, and the power of strong relationships to help people look beyond the bad choices others make and see the good inside them.

Read more less