Nordicphotos/Alamy
Robin Bell/ANL/ShutterstockJon Tucker
Jon Tucker, New Zealand
author of a series of four
children’s books inspired by
Ransome, lists Night Race to
Kawau as a realistic New Zealand novel
(admittedly written two decades ago) by
Tessa Duder, an author noted for her
sailing background. “In many ways this
neo-classic novel refl ects Ransome’s We
Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea in a more
concise and contemporary work.”
He keeps with the Australasian authors
by noting Talk Under Water by Kathryn
Lomer. “This is a Tasmanian young adult
novel about a sailing-mad teenage boy’s
growing relationship with a profoundly deaf
girl. While the circumnavigation of Bruny
Island, Tasmania, is a plot device rather
than a key element, the book is thought-
provoking and thoroughly worth the read.”Black Waters by Julia
Jones ticks all Jon’s
boxes of highly
contemporary sailing
fi ction with an African-
English girl heroine
thwarted from her
Olympic sailing
ambition as an indirect result of social
media racist slurs. In the process of
recovering her shattered self-confi dence
as a sailing instructor she manages to
cope with a more sinister plot issue,
resulting in a very satisfactory conclusion.
Jon continues, “I recently read Jessica
Watson’s Australian novel Indigo Blue out
of curiosity, bearing in mind her amazing
background as a teenage solo round-the-
world sailor. This young
adult novel centres on a
12th-grade girl who buys
a run-down boat,
subsequently
experiencing the
inevitable bouts ofself-doubt, which add realism to an
otherwise rather less than realistic plot line
involving a relationship with a mer-man. The
genre will potentially appeal to non-sailing
teens who prefer to read supernatural
romance, but could possibly trigger an
interest in sailing. This makes it worthy of
inclusion in my list of sailing fi ction.”
“For my own part, growing up in 1960s
New Zealand, classic boating-related reads
included Tom Sawyer and Treasure Island,
as well as a passion for non-fi ction authors
such as Eric Hiscock, Thor Heyerdahl and
Hakon Mielch. Without doubt however,
Arthur Ransome’s set of 12 children’s
novels were the most infl uential and lasting
works of fi ction, and helped shape the
direction of my subsequent voyaging
lifestyle, as well as give me the confi dence
to create my own series of contemporary
children’s sailing books in the same genre.”Julia Jones
Julia Jones, author of a series of six
novels with a nautical theme, is of a similar
mindset: Ransome was a driving force
and while there are boating books out
there, there are not enough.
“The adventure fi ction genre is much
stronger [than sailing fi ction], so there
seems to be plenty of authors who might
well include very good sailing novels
among a range of other writing.
“KM Peyton [author of over 70 children’s
novels] would be a good example.
Monica Edwards, best remembered for
Romney Marsh pony stories also has
some memorable sailing moments. There
is also Jill Paton Walsh’s Dolphin
Crossing. Robert Westall, Malcolm Saville,
Jan Needle are all examples ofJenny Watson
Jenny Watson, author of
Prove It, Josh (see page 50),
concurs with Jon and Julia.
The only book she found
whilst writing that
she’d recommend
was Summer at
Forsaken Lake by
Michael D Beil. “It has
mystery, sailing, kids
doing outdoors
adventuring. All the
things I was looking
for in fi ction when I
was a kid.”Marsali Taylor
PBO columnist Marsali Taylor
points out that the Scottish
fi rm Fidra Books are in the
process of reissuing the
Elinor Lyon books that were fi rst
published in the 1950s about the
adventures of Ian and Sovra, set
on the Scottish Highland coast
(The House in Hiding, We
Daren’t Go A’ Hunting, and Run
Away Home being the fi rst three
books in the series).
“She wrote these books as an
antidote to Arthur Ransome,
where she viewed the childrenas ‘so good at everything’.
“In her novels, the children are always
getting themselves into and out of
diffi culties. As Julia Eccleshare stated in
her obituary to Elinor in 2008, the books
feature ‘strong girls and
sensitive boys and shared
leadership between the sexes.’
“The books felt more modern,
more thoughtful about how
children’s behaviour is affected
by what they experience,
especially the way they are
treated by adults.
“That’s a big thumbs up
from me.”adventurous writers, very contemporary
(in their time), very gritty, and all quite
likely to include saltwater in the mix,”
refl ects Julia.
“I think Michael Morpurgo is the only
current author who has that range of vision
that can include some really good sailing
adventures in among his total output. Why
the Whales Came and Alone on a Wide,
Wide Sea are just a couple of examples.”
Julia recalls her parents reading her
Hornblower by CS Forester on board their
boat Peter Duck, so that will always have
a special place in her heart.
“Best of all for me was Maurice Griffi ths’
Ten Small Yachts which I read obsessively
as a very small child, even more than
Magic of the Swatchways, his most
successful book.”Nautical fi ction for children
➜Author Julia Jones aboard Peter Duck, the
yacht commissioned and formerly owned
by Arthur RansomeJulia Jones has written
several nautical books
for teenagersThere’s an antipodean
theme to Jon Tucker’s
pick of books