In the story, Susan’s Sailing Adventures by Jahnn Swanker Gibson, Susan is a 12-year-old girl who tells of her many sailing trips with her mom, dad, and several family friends. Throughout the story Susan gives interesting facts about the places she is visiting and also expresses many of her own feelings.Each chapter is a different story about her trips on sailboats.
In the first chapter, Susan tells you about herself and her family and also explains some of the family history. The second is about her family helping to crew during a race. She also explains how a boat moves and gives a very good example of how it works, tells you about several other parts of a boat, and is all the while giving you fun and interesting facts about the place she is currently sailing.
Some of the things Susan introduces to the reader include the Fresnel lens, 12-Meters, cans, and several places that she stopped at or passed by on one of her trips. Susan is very outgoing with her feelings, and tells you exactly what she thinks about her parents’ disgusting coffee, how big waves are fun, and that sunsets are beautiful. Everywhere she goes, Susan and her family seem to make new friends almost unintentionally (of course they sometimes take a few along as well).
This book has a lot of information that will help the newer sailor, and the rules of the road may also be interesting to the more experienced sailor. It is geared toward the early teen, however most people would probably find something in it to tickle their interest. I would highly suggest anyone who is looking for a fun and entertaining sailing story to pick up a copy.
Susan’s Sailing Adventures by Jahnn Swanker Gibson, (American House Book Publishers, 2001)
