TOM CRINGLE

Inspired by two early–19th-century tales, Hausman delivers more nonstop nautical adventure in the wake of Tom Cringle: Battle on the High Seas (2000). Tom, 14, already First Lieutenant in the Royal Navy, rescues a group of “stolen” slaves, and is then ordered to return them to their owner. Off Jamaica’s coast as well as deep within its lush interior, Tom wrestles a succession of large, dangerous animals, plus his own conscience, as, aided by his charges as well as trusty companions Sneezer, a huge Newfoundland, and Peter Mangrove, peg-legged former slave of Lord Nelson, he repels repeated attacks from a gang of bloodthirsty American pirates bent on recovering their human loot. Hill’s small, crudely drawn ink sketches aptly illustrate Tom’s on-the-fly journal entries. Colorful characters (not one but two of whom spring back onstage after supposedly dying the first time around), plenty of brisk action, a vividly rendered tropical setting, and a capable but clumsy protagonist whose insecurities vanish in the crunch, once again make a winning combination, and it is clear at the end that Tom’s exploits are far from over. (Fiction. 11-13)