The Young Man and the Sea by Rodman Philbrick is a wonderful adventure has elements of realistic fiction in it. Skiff Beaman is really on his own. His mom has passed away and his dad is lost in grief on the couch. Skiff has to take care of both of them. He has guts. He wants to repair the family fishing boat.There are kindly neighbors and people in town who want to help him. Soon he is catching lobster and crabs and earning some money.
There are also a bully in town, Tyler who torments Skiff. He steals Skiff's traps, cuts the bait bags off of others and generally does whatever he can to be mean. Skiff gets a grapple on a line to try to find his traps.
It is hard work. Then he hears about what a blue fin tuna could bring in if by some miracle he can catch one. The real suspense begins. The income from a tuna would solve lots of problems including repair the family fishing boat. Will it happen? Will Tyler spoil this effort? Read and find out.
Review, literature circle activities, and teacher's guide:
http://www.state.lib.la.us/empowerlibrary/YOUNG%20MAN%20AND%20THE%20SEA.pdf
KidsReads.com: http://www.kidsreads.com/reviews/0439368294.asp
Literature Guide from Scholastic:
http://teacher.scholastic.com/clubs/pdfs/youngman_t.pdf
