At the story's opening in 1776, 14-year-old Nate fears two things: a swaggering local bully and (despite being a fisherman's son) water. When David Bushnell asks his help in building a secret weapon for the Continental army, Nate readily agrees, although he dreads crossing the Connecticut River to their hidden workshop each night. They finally journey to New York to deliver Bushnell's invention, the Turtle submarine designed to attach bombs to ships' hulls. There Nate tests his mettle under fire and even underwater. Sensitive, fine line drawings appear at chapter headings. As Carlson discusses in the appended author's note, the novel is based on actual events: although Nate's story is fictionalized, Bushnell did invent and construct the Turtle, the first submarine to be used in warfare. Though Nate makes for a sympathetic character and the plot is well constructed, the actual tale of the Turtle is quite involving, too. Readers intrigued by the history may also enjoy Arthur Lefkowitz's Bushnell's Submarine (2006) and Sally M. Walker's Secrets of a Civil War Submarine (2005).

This enjoyable historical narrative relates the story of the first submarine used in naval warfare, during the American Revolutionary War. Carlson tells of the conception, construction, and completion of the American Turtle through the eyes of a fictional teenage boy searching for his role in the conflict. A diagram of the Turtle and author's note are included. Bib.

Gr 4-7 Nathan Wade, a fisherman's son, lives in Saybrook, CT, at the beginning of the American Revolution. When his father enlists in the Continental Army, the 14-year-old stays with relatives to help on their farm. His cousin, David, invents a submarine to be used against the British and asks Nathan to help him build it on a nearby secluded island. In spite of his intense fear of water, he agrees, and learns to overcome his phobia as he ferries back and forth while building the vessel. The submarine, named American Turtle , is towed to New York and employed in an attempt to sink Admiral Howe's flagship, anchored in the harbor. Nathan participates in the August 29, 1776, evacuation of 9000 American soldiers by helping to row men and equipment across the East River under cover of night and fog. The historical events surrounding the first submarine ever used in warfare, outlined in an author's note, are expertly woven throughout this fictional account. Johnson's pen-and-ink illustrations at the beginning of each chapter enrich Carlson's first novel. Rebecca Sheridan, Easttown Library & Information Center, Berwyn, PA