Two children cross an ocean, two hundred years apart. One is Sam Robbins, a powder monkey aboard HMS Victory, the ship in which Lord Nelson will die a hero's death at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The other is Molly Jennings, a present-day English girl transplanted from London to America, fighting a battle of her own against loss and loneliness. This extraordinary time-shifting adventure tells the interwoven stories of Sam and Molly, linked by a mystery. Sam is a farm boy, press ganged to serve in the Royal Navy. In the dangerous world of a warship enduring the Napoleonic Wars, he meets both cruelty and kindness, and survives a fearsome battle whose echoes reach through the years to involve Molly as well. Like him, she has lost her childhood but will find her future, with help from a very unexpected source. Two lives joined forever by the touch of Nelson, the greatest sailor of all time.

 

There are 272 pages in this book. This book was published 2007 by Random House Children's Publishers UK .

SUSAN COOPER is the Newbery Award-winning author of dozens of books, including The Boggart and the acclaimed The Dark Is Rising series.