Captain Kate

This detailed account of 19th-century travel down the C&O waterway offers a generous sprinkling of adventure starring a gutsy yet prideful heroine. Until her father's death, 12-year-old Kate had spent half of every year aboard the Mary Ann helping her parents haul coal from Cumberland to Washington, D.C., but now her mother, who has recently remarried, wants to rent out the family's boat for the season. Unable to bear the thought of strangers steering the Mary Ann (and possibly mistreating the guide mules), Kate convinces her reluctant stepbrother that they should make the trip on their own. Soon after they get underway, Kate fears she has bitten off more than she can chew by appointing herself captain, but she won't admit her error in judgment. Even after adding a second boy to the crew, she faces one crisis after another, including a dangerous run-in with Confederate soldiers. Reeder (Shades of Gray) balances external conflicts with Kate's mullings over her own shortcomings. Although the tedious journey may at times seem as unbearably long to readers as it does to Kate, Reeder is successful both in replicating the Civil War era and accurately tracing a canal boat's path. Students whose knowledge of waterways comes from textbook definitions will find a plethora of easy-to-digest information here. Ages 8-12. (Feb.)