AviThe True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (Scholastic Gold)

*SPOILERS AHEAD*This novel grabs the reader right from the start: "Not every thirteen-year-old girl is accused of murder, brought to trial, and found guilty. But I was just such a girl..." Starting with the explanation that Charlotte is supposed to be traveling across the Atlantic from England to America with two other families, because her own family went ahead without her and left her to finish out her year at boarding school, we quickly learn that the other families are not coming. Charlotte will take the journey alone, the sole passenger and the sole female among the crew of men. She befriends the cook, Zachariah, who foreshadows that they will become friends because of all that they have in common: "Miss Doyle is so young! I am so old! Surely there is something similar in that. And you, the sole girl, and I, the one black, are special on this ship. In short, we begin with two things in common, enough to begin a friendship." Charlotte learns that the crew is intent on mutiny against Captain Jaggery, and that's when things start to make sense. The stowaway. The families who made the last-minute decision not to take this ship. The dirk (small knife) given to her by Zachariah. And then the first mate is murdered during a storm, and Charlotte is accused and found guilty of the crime.I love Charlotte's relationship with Zachariah. I can see Hollywood making this movie with Morgan Freeman as Zachariah (indeed, there was a movie in the early stages at one point and he was attached to play the role). I love that Captain Jaggery, who acts most civilized, turns out to be the monster -- and I love the imagery of his quarters, at first perfect and luxe, and then broken and battered after the storm in a way that mirrors how Charlotte's impression of him has changed. I love that Charlotte grows from a prim and proper girl into a young woman with such courage in her convictions that she can run away from home at the end of the book to return to her family aboard the Seahawk.Charlotte Doyle is a strong heroine for young girls. I read this book when it was first published, when I was 8 years old, and I have reread it many times since then. It's my favorite book, so much so that I named my daughter Charlotte, and I used a line from this book as my senior quote in my high school yearbook. I leave you with this line, Zachariah's wisdom: "A sailor chooses the wind that takes the ship from a safe port. Ah, yes, but once you're abroad, as you have seen, winds have a mind of their own. Be careful, Charlotte, careful of the wind you choose."

I loved this book when I was in middle and high school. I wanted to read it again. I actually still owned a copy of it. With my current book challenges, I had the perfect reason to read it again. It did not disappoint. Unlike many stories, this book was just as good as it had been when I read it as a teen.The story follows young Charlotte Doyle. She is scheduled to travel on a merchant ship back home to Rhode Island from England. There is supposed to be two other families on board, but they fail to show. As soon as she boards, the young lady knows there is something amiss. Vague warnings and unusual occurrences start the warning bells buzzing in her head.After a failed attempted mutiny, Charlotte joins the sailors. She becomes one of the crew, working along side them from dawn to midnight, taring the deck and taking a watch. Danger from both human and ship lead to a very gripping tale on the sea. Every day, Charlotte adds some to her journal, leaving evidence of the crimes committed on board.I love this book. It is fascinating to watch Charlotte grow from a young, sheltered girl to a hardworking, independent young lady. You learn a lot about what the crew goes through on a long voyage, as well as the differences in social classes that were prevalent at the time. It would be a great book for a tween/teen girl. Also, anyone who wants to learn some basics about old-time sea faring would like this book. It is an easy read, but keeps you engaged throughout. It actually has a lot of suspense for a young adult book (at least those I read when I was younger, I don’t know about today’s books). It is simply a great book.

I loved revisiting this book from my middle school days. Though it was much shorter than I remembered, it is always nice to come home to a book I loved when I was 13 myself.

I had listened to this as an audiobook when I was an early teen and remember some of it, mostly that I enjoyed it. My twelve-year-old daughter went away to camp for three weeks, and I gave her this and two other books. I didn't hear much about this others, but she absolutely loved 'True Confessions', stormed through it, and read it aloud to her friends.

Nice book and good paper quality

Some parts were darker and more gruesome than expected for a children’s book, but otherwise a well-written tale of a girl’s pirate adventure and how it changes her.

No plot at all

Avi has a reputation as a master storyteller for good reason. This story has it all! Secrets, suffering, justice, escape, and true friendship. In this story, a young woman braves a difficult journey and develops a new perspective of the world - beyond that of even her mother and father! Brilliant!

I run a little book club for kids (ranging from 7 to 13). This was one of our picks and I started to read, ahead of the group, ready for setting questions and maybe coming up with some fun extension activities, etc.I read it to my two kids - 7 and 11 and... well... we all really liked the story. For the most part it was a ripping, exciting action-adventure. Not all of it was terribly believable but we were willing to suspend our disbelief. The one thing I really didn't appreciate about the book is that the violence (and *** Spoiler Alert *** there were several gruesome scenes upto and including murder) were way more graphic than I am used to encountering in books for the under 12s.It was unnecessary, IMO. We've read books about slavery ('Oh, Freedom!' was brilliant, for example) and about Jim Crowe ('Parker Inheritance' was fun); we've read books about being lost/in a new land/out of place ('Island of the Blue Dolphins', or 'Explorer', for example) and they all had characters facing danger and even going through quite harrowing experiences but none had such, IMHO, belaboured, unnecessarily vivid descriptions. It would have been fine to keep it a bit more general, mention there was a death, without needing to describe it all in quite such florid detail!We actually chose to change the book we are reading for the month. We'd never done that before. [We are now reading 'Out of My Mind' which I highly recommend!]Still, as I say, the book is good and fun but I feel it should be for over 12s.

I bought this as I read a review about it whist I was on holiday, great little book, great story.

This is a wonderful, exciting book.

I had this book when I was younger, and it was a favourite!it was just as I remembered! It is such a captivating and empowering story!And it was delivered right on time too!I would purchase again from this seller!

Fans of this book will prefer this cover to the older Avi and newer updates. Keep it classic Charlotte :)