The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle is a book written by Avi and published by Scholastic Press in 1990. While written for a young audience (11–13), the book is well liked by many adults as well. It won a Newbery Honor award in 1991.

[edit] Plot summary

The book tells the story of Charlotte Doyle, a 13 year old girl, who boards a ship called the Seahawk in 1832 for a voyage from England to her home on Rhode Island. As the other families that were supposed to accompany her mysteriously fail to appear, Charlotte finds herself the only passenger on the voyage and the sole female on board.

During the course of the ill-fated voyage Charlotte is forced to take sides in a mutiny and subsequently charged with the murder of the ship's First Mate by the ship's mad captain. Though sentenced to be hanged, she ends up confronting the captain on the bowsprit and defeated him. Her friend, Zachariah, tells the crew they need a new captain and Charlotte is chosen to be in command of the ship. A few days later the Seahawk lands in Providence, RI, where her family lives. However, she finds her family unwilling to believe her story, and eventually decides to leave her family and return to life at sea, the place where she now believes is home. This story is divided into two parts which explain Charlotte's change over time on the Seahawk.