Driven from their impoverished Irish village, fifteen-year-old Maura and her younger brother meet their landlord's runaway son in Liverpool while all three wait for a ship to America.

Beyond the Western Sea 1: The Escape from Home

Jeni Enjaian

A review from my old blog (covers the whole series)...

I have to say that I was rather disappointed with the series. I guess it comes from reading a ton of other books written in the same era and written poorly.

While these books were not written poorly neither did they sparkle and entertain. I almost know the end outcome of the books before I read more than a few chapters.

Avi also dragged the plot of the books down with too many extraneous characters and subplot lines. For a children's book I had trouble keeping track of who was good and on the side of the main characters and who wasn't.

The book is decent and would most likely give a child a sense of accomplishment for reading a 415 page book (the second in the series). I probably would not recommend it or assign the books for students.

Maura and Patrick have escaped the desperate poverty and danger of leaving home in Ireland to face even greater peril as they continue their daring voyage to the New World with their friend Laurence Kirkle. Aboard ship, they are crowded into the stench-filled pit of steerage, where they come face to face with illness and death, trying their best comfort and protect eight-year-old Bridy, who has lost both her parents. They find themselves at the mercy of fellow passengers--shady characters like Mr. Shagwell, an American in dire need of cash, and the conniving Mr. Clemspool, who sails first-class with young Mr. Grout, haunted by his criminal past. Ahead lies their future in America, fraught with danger and more crisis than they ever anticipated.

Beyond the Western Sea 2: Lord Kirkle's Money

A review from my old blog (for the whole series)

I have to say that I was rather disappointed with the series. I guess it comes from reading a ton of other books written in the same era and written poorly.

While these books were not written poorly neither did they sparkle and entertain. I almost know the end outcome of the books before I read more than a few chapters.

Avi also dragged the plot of the books down with too many extraneous characters and subplot lines. For a children's book I had trouble keeping track of who was good and on the side of the main characters and who wasn't.

The book is decent and would most likely give a child a sense of accomplishment for reading a 415 page book (the second in the series). I probably would not recommend it or assign the books for students.

Beyond the Western Sea 1: The Escape from Home

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