Powder Monkey

Adventures of a Young Sailor

by Paul Dowswell

An NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People

"Readers will be absorbed in the day-to-day life of young Sam, and his vivid tale will keep them on edge . . . Not for the faint of heart, this novel is a brilliant introduction." - School Library Journal

"Sam is an engaging narrator who includes tremendous detail about life aboard ships . . . described in vivid detail."- VOYA "Voracious fans of the nautical genre will happily sign on." - Kirkus Reviews

Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Adventure, Historical, Childrens, Pirates, Nautical

304 pages, Paperback

First published October 3, 2005

About the author

Paul Dowswell is a British writer of nonfiction and young adult novels who has written over 70 books for British publishers. He was a senior editor at Usborne Publishing, then went freelance in 1999.

Reviews

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

It seems that Dowswell is primarily an author of nonfiction. It shows. He's done his research, in spades, and includes a helpful bibliography for anyone who'd want to do the same. I think more than a few of his readers would be interested in reading more about the Royal Navy in the 19th century after reading Powder Monkey. The descriptions he gives of everyday life aboard ship are vivid (graphic, even, at times) and absorbing. The best of the book is in these shipboard moments, entirely lacking in romanticism, and in the fairly large cast of interesting characters he's put together.

The one weakness here is the plot. Mainly, there isn't much of one for the majority of the book. It's not that I require a bloody battle to be interested in a seafaring book. It's that there's no real overarching thread connecting any of these chapters. The book moves from explanatory scene to explanatory scene without doing much to connect them into a plot, other than by using the same characters. One does show up, very near the end, but it's a little late for that.

That said... If you are interested in reading about life as a pressed powder monkey in the Royal Navy, most of this book will be fascinating for you. It works very well as a snapshot of that life. As a novel, less so.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t care for this book much. If you want a more interesting youthful account of the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic wars I would recommend the Bloody Jack series. This book was dry with uninteresting characters, too many dull, directly stated facts, and a surprising amount of poorly written gore consisting of blood and guts being blown here and there in a very uncreative manner.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this to my friend's son, who was 10 at the time. He loved it. It is a bit gory and gross in parts because Dowswell is a historian, so he definitely attempts to keep things as realistic as possible. But in an age when kids are rarely choose to read instead of watch a movie, this series can be counted on to hold the attention of young boys...although you may want to read it first. There are some parts that are bit graphic. I found reading it aloud allowed me to edit as I went along. We are in the middle of Prison Ship now and have Battle Fleet waiting in the wings.

[Sully · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book. It is about a young boy who joins the Royal navy in the 18th century and all that happens throughout his life. This only the first book and I recommend reading them all.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a total journey in to the unknown for me. It was suggested to me by a friend who recognised the title and suggested I give it a go (I later found out that they had totally misread it and thought it was something else)..

Anyway what I found was a fast paced and often quite candid glimpse in to the Royal Navy Frigate Miranda, a fictitious but well researched vessel of the Royal Navy of 1800s.

I think what caught my eye about this story was that along with the usual coming of age story of the young Sam Witchall you also got a first hand view of what it was like to live on such a vessel as this.

Sometimes in the eagerness for an author to show the setting of their story (and show off their superior knowledge) it can feel more like a guided tour for the culturally inept - but not in this case.

Here we have a boy who is as much finding his feet as feel we are. This I took to - not only did it help me connect with Sam but it also give me a feeling of familiarity while at the same time exploring the brutal new home of Sam.

I am never sure what age a book is aimed at and often feel its a injustice to label it as such - this book is a perfect point in case. I suspect it was aimed at a reading audience younger or at least less (reading) experienced as I am, however I think that is giving the book and the author a huge disservice and as such I would recommend it to anyone to read and enjoy.

[Monica Caldicott]

Faced with the choice of staying in his small English town and selling tea all day from his father’s store – or an exciting life at sea – well, you know what choice Sam Witchall makes. Off he goes to sea on a merchant ship. But in these times of war between England and France, the Royal Navy needs all hands on deck, and if they don’t get enough volunteers -  well, they just take you anyway.

Read p. 34: “By then our conversation … “

Silas’s warnings came true, unfortunately, for Sam, who is pressed into service on the Royal Navy frigate Miranda as a “powder monkey.” His job is to race back and forth between the ship’s many cannons and the kegs of gunpowder in the hold.

Read p. 72: “Edmund started to tell me about the boy I’d replaced …”

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sam Witchall comes from Norfolk but is desperate to leave the quite village life that lies ahead of him, and so persuades his father to allow him to join the crew of a merchant ship when he turns 13. He does well enough in this new role until a French privateer chases them down, with the intention of taking the ship. They are saved at the last minute by the arrival of a British war ship, but the salvation is short lived, when the British choose to press Sam and another crew member into service in the navy.

So Sam must learn to be a powder monkey on a British war ship, and will, of course, see action.

This is a book written by someone who clearly has a good knowledge of the history of the 18th century, and of British vessels. It is written for mid grade children and young adults, and is a great adventure that would teach them a lot about the period. It is also a well written.

[Lizanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book read so easily, the thing is though, a lot involving ships happens and I was at a loss at most of the time and had to flip to the map provided in the book (Thank god otherwise I wouldn't even know half of what happened). Also, this was a story with little to no plot, not until the end anyway, the book was made up from things happening but without a clear line besides him being on a ship and the friends he had, I wished the plot would've sneaked in a bit earlier. 3 stars

[Carson Poock · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was Historical Fiction. I would recommend this book because it was written very well and was descriptive. I liked how the main character took his situation in a positive matter and eventually got free of the navy ship. I liked this genre because it is set in a certain time period but it is fiction and I like fiction.

[Sam Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

I felt lost after reading this lol It was an incredible read and I kept daydreaming about The Miranda at work. I hated work because I wanted to be on the ship with Sam Witchall, Silas and Ben instead of in the office. I rarely leave written reviews on here, but this deserves one. A underrated gem that is waiting to be discovered by a larger audience.

[Cortnie Delaney · Rating 3 out of 5]

A jarring and brutal look at ship life. I learned a lot I didn't know about the British Navy and its barbarity. I enjoyed it and it was a quick read, I would have loved it as a middle schooler too, my only gripe was the ending. I do not understand the logic of the ending and it was kind of frustrating, but overall it was a good read! Worth the time, I'd say.

[Teresa Grabs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book! The richness of a well-researched story was felt throughout the book.

[The Bookworm God · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good read but it dragged out at places sometimes

[Josh Turnbull · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this when I was younger. amazing book series

[Rio · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a well written tale from over 200 years ago. Vivid description...

[Len · Rating 3 out of 5]

The British Navy in the Napoleonic Wars summarised as an adventure for kids. Of course C. S. Forester, Dudley Pope, Alexander Kent, Patrick O'Brian, and many others have done it better and with more literary intent. I recall a Ken Dodd joke in which he was pondering Freud's theory of laughter. “Freud said that laughter is the outward expression of the psyche. The trouble with Freud is that he never had to play first house, Saturday night Glasgow Empire.” Well, writing history for the young must be very similar to reaching such an audience, minus the alcohol fumes and technicolor swearing.

So, while accepting the limitations of the novel: didacticism; abbreviating history to sound-bites – Tom Paine and The Rights of Man get three paragraphs which basically say to young Sam, 'Be careful reading him, mate. He's a bit of a lefty'; and pushing in blood and gore by the bucketful to show learning can be fun – just like a CGI movie, it fulfils its brief smoothly and professionally. Three stars for identifying the target and hitting it without leaving the reader staring out of the window watching the pigeons.

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book I read is called Powder Monkey by Paul Dowswell. It was published by Bloomsbury publishing in 2005. This is a story about a boy that goes out to sea aboard a navy ship back in the 1800,s. He has to stay strong as he fights in battles against enemy ships just to stay alive.

This book is about a kid named Sam that wants to join the navy and become a sailor. Sam argues with his parents for a couple weeks until his parents agree to let him board a merchant ship. This is all destroyed when he ends up in deep trouble aboard a navy battle ship. “At that moment I understood that whatever terrors I had been through the previous day with the Isabelle would be nothing compared to what I would have to face on the Miranda”(Dowswell p.50). Sam is dragged into a nasty war and has to battle to keep his life.

I think the plot of this story was ok the introduction was very quick and to the point and hooked me into the book very well. The rising action was slow and very boring I found it hard to enjoy this book throughout the rising actions. The book picked up very fast at the end and was definitely worth the reading as I would recommend it to friends that like to read about horrible war scenes. “Claybourne cut away the bloody clothing around Mandeville’s chest. He proceeded to insert a finger, then a metal probe, into the wound” (Dowswell p.225). Many times in the book the author went into deep detail about wounded men that were disturbing. The resolution of the book was very good but was also very surprising and did not see it coming at all.

In this book the main character is round. He changes a lot in this story as he is just a boy and in trained into being a sailor and has to fight in horrific battles. He learned how to be a powder monkey and how to stand up for his country. He had to face home sickness and be smart not to get himself killed. “Instinctively I reached to touch Rosie’s letter in my shirt pocket. Keep me safe, keep me safe. I whispered to myself” (Dowswell). Sam always read his letters from his family and read them every night. Sam is expressed through survival, hate, betrayal and bravery and the story revolves around his experience in battle in the eyes of the enemy the plot would have been seen in a some what similar but a different view.

I think the theme of this book is to realize what you are getting yourself into be for you do it. The author shows this throughout the book because Sam wanted to go onto a navy ship but the whole time he was their Sam was trying to plan his escape because he was home sick and didn’t want to die aboard the ship. “I longed to walk out of the ship on to the harbor, and then just keep walking, past the sentries, past the dockyard, past the confines of the town and all the way bask home”(Dowswell p.74). I disagree with the theme because I believe in not being afraid to try new things even if it turns out bad, you will never knew how something will end if you never try it.

The author of the book is Paul Dowsworth. He is a British writer that writes fiction and non-fiction books mostly about history. He has written over 60 books for adult and young adults. He is also in a band and has been playing in bands all his life. He plays music from folk rock to Reggae (http://www.pauldowswell.co.uk/music.htm).

This book didn’t affect me a whole lot but was a very interesting as I learned a lot about how the navy was organized and ran back in the 1800s. It made me realize how much different life was back then and how much different the battles were and they actually boarded the other boats and captured them. I would recommend this book to some people that like child warfare but it wouldn’t be the first book in my mind to recommend.

[Will · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is the story of a boy who wants to go to sea. the only problem is that he is 'pressed' from his merchant ship onto a Royal Navy frigate HMS Miranda.

I started reading this book hoping for something kind of like Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship's Boy, however, it ended up rather disjointed with the chapters being a series of barely related events. Furthermore, the characters weren't very memorable I can hardly remember a single name (it doesn't help that they are very generic) and when I do see a name they mean nothing to me. Also this book depicted the Royal Navy as a wholly tyrannical establishment...which it sort of was. But despite this idea the Navy wasn't actually that bad for people compared to the rest of society. They got food multiple times a week their diet was quite a lot better than the everyman. The only area that they lacked in was vitamin C. But back to the point. This novel speaks of cruel captains and officers. This was seen in history, however it was more the exception than the rule. Most of the time the officers and captain were fair (like captain, who's name escapes me) and this fact is very much skewed in this book.

Despite these short coming this book was enjoy able and I would recommend it to anyone who likes naval fiction.

[Chrissy · Rating 3 out of 5]

(This review was originally written for my Young Adult Literature class and I'm reposting it here).

The bio on Dowswell says that this book is his first work of fiction, though he has written historical YA non-fiction before, and it shows. Dowswell's background in non-fiction is evident in this book, as much of it reads like a factual book on British Naval history. As a narrator, Sam does not mince words when it comes to describing the cramped and often unsanitary conditions of his voyage on the Miranda. The battle sequences are also very graphic and violent, which makes me question Books in Print [Note: Books in Print is a library-information database] listing it as suitable for grades 4-7 (or maybe I'm just being overly cautious). The story gets more interesting later as aspects of the characters' lives outside of the Navy are explored (the family they left behind, reasons that they're in the Navy, etc.) and also during a very graphic and intense battle when many of Sam's friends are killed or captured by a Spanish fleet.

This book was recommended to me by one of my freshmen students who had actually done a PowerPoint project for his English class on the British Navy because he had read this book. He also used the sources listed at the back of the book for his research project, so if someone has an interest in British Naval history, then this would be a good fiction book for them to read.

[Duane · Rating 5 out of 5]

To begin, let me state I think this book is readers who are pre-teen or teenage of age. It's about a boy named Sam who is "pressed" into service on a Royal Navy frigate during the times of wars with French and Spanish navies. The author does a excellent job of creating a authentic atmosphere aboard a navy ship back in those days. He doesn't skip any of the nasty or gory parts, he let's the readers know what the real daily life of a powder monkey consisted of. A great adventure read and filled with likable characters. Based on historical facts, this novel gets the reader involved as the cannons fire and the smoke creeps down your throat. A great read!

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though not a big historical fiction fan, I was immediately caught up in the life of 13 year old Sam, pressed into service for the British navy as a powder monkey-the one who runs back and forth between the gun powder room and the artillary. Very well written, a real glimpse into life at sea with its thrills and horrors aptly described.

[Damian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a young adult/teen level book about a young boy who's pressganged onto a British Man-o-War and the adventures that ensue. Quick read but there are many better, deeper versions of the same kind of story.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

My son is reading this and I decided to pick it up too. Great way to learn about the British Navy from an adolescent boy's perspective. If you like movies like Master and Commander, you will probably like this.

[Varsha Seshan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book about a young boy who becomes a sailor, it explores the way dreams change. The boy who had dreams of going to sea discovers how different his imagination is from reality. Reality is cruel and harsh, but he embraces it, loving it despite how sordid it is.

[Julie]

I'm sure it's fine and all, but apparently I need something more in my royal navy books to keep me interested. A more interesting main character, people outsmarting people, humor, slash, crossdressing girls, something.

[Tc · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author does a good job conveying the life and atmosphere of a powder monkey pressed into Naval service. The ending had me wondering if my copy was missing pages. A good read from a historical fiction perspective.

[Carmen San-Diego · Rating 5 out of 5]

The setting was realistically vivid. The characters were interesting and it was good that you got to see all the ways they improved and the ways they revealed themselves.

[Raphael Paulian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would recommend it to anyone who likes a good adventure!

[Moraa · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was a good book and i love it because it took me in a i was so into it that i didnt even want to put it down

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story of a young sailor who is impressed into the British Navy in the 19th century and how much that sucks. Very enjoyable.