Ship

With so much interest in the raising of the Titanic, young readers will certainly be fascinated with David Macaulay's ambitious Ship. Like the recent movie Titanic, Macaulay uses the present day as a portal to the past--first recounting a diving expedition that leads to the discovery of Magdalena, a fictitious 15th-century wooden ship embedded in a treacherous reef near the Bahamas. Overcoming obstacles from pirate treasure hunters to government bureaucracy, the excavation team manages to piece together the intriguing but ultimately tragic story behind the 400-year-old caravel. Finally, the team hits pay dirt when the ship owner's 1504 diary is miraculously discovered in an archive library in Spain's Seville. At this point the narrative switches into the past, allowing the reader to witness the building of the ship through the voice of the ship's owner--and experience the heart-wrenching escalation of the owner's hopes and dreams. This is what Macaulay does best--highlighting and interweaving the human story that fuels the creation of an object, while masterfully visualizing the event with detailed, historically accurate illustrations. Macaulay fans will appreciate the diverse artistic styles displayed throughout the book, from murky underwater images to highly detailed architectural drawings, sepia-toned journal entries to impressionistic watercolors. Simultaneously, the author eloquently portrays the many voices of this human drama, especially that of the ill-fated ship owner. (Ages 10 and older) --Gail Hudson