This is another first rate piece of historical recreation in the story of 14-year old Vasco Coeiho, page at King Manuel's palace in Lisbon, whose sense of adventure led him to join the Magellan expedition in 1517. He left a sheltered home, the pomp and grandeur of court circles, and his adored young princess, and entered the new life with courage and spirit. His quiet devotion and loyalty to Magellan, in contrast to most of the crew, give focus to the story of long months of hardship, mutiny and hunger as the ships made their perilous way around the world. A swift paced, informative story, with a touch of credible romance.
Louise Andrews Kent (May 25, 1886 – August 6, 1969) was an American writer. She was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, in 1886 and graduated, in 1909, from Simmons College School of Library Science, where she was president of her senior class and editor of the college paper.
She became a newspaper columnist and writer of children's literature, and also of cookbooks. She wrote a newspaper column, Theresa’s Tea Table, in the Boston Traveller under the pen name of Theresa Tempest, and later authored a series of cookbooks as Mrs. Appleyard.
Pernah baca edisi hard cover jaman dulu yang sampulnya kayak papan keras dan ada semacam kain yang dijahit itu. Ejaannya jadul sekali. Nemunya pun di gudang. Tapi saya yang baru kelas 2 SD waktu itu asyiiik sekali membacanya, biarpun kadang kurang paham maksud beberapa kata dalam bukunya *maklum masih keciil hehe. Pas SMP buku ini masih ada di rak buku rumah, jadi tentulah saya...baca lagiii...ah senangnya. Pas pindah ke ujung Sumatra (Banda Aceh) karena mulai kerja setamat kuliah buku ini saya bawa biarpun agak berat. Sayang hancur kena lumpur tsunami 2004 lalu. Nyeseel kalau saja tidak saya bawa kemari pasti masih ada di rumah orang tua saya buku ini. Soalnya kepingin baca lagiiii..
I remembered the existence of this book today when my son(17) turned out not to have a clue who Magellan was. I checked on Goodreads and discovered the 16 million members of Goodreads had overlooked this one - so I added it.
I can remember very little of the book but I recall liking it a lot when I read it nearly *shudder* 40 years ago.
I picked this up from a charity shop, not realising it was a book for kids. Not sure why I persisted in reading it, but it was a fairly dreadful experience.