Special Review: A New Maritime Book for Young Readers The Whaling ArtJournal ofAbigail M. Case by Chris Galazzi and Kristina Rodanas, illustrated by Kristina Rodanas (Cape Cod Maritime Museum, Hyannis, MA, 2016, 39pp, illus, gloss, ISBN 978-1-68418-193-3; $19.99pb) Me to my teenaged son: Do you know what echolocation is? Son: Yes. Me: Really? How do you know that? Son: I'm not going to lie-I learned it from Finding Nemo. Getting young people engaged in history can present a challenge, and if a blockbuster Pixar/Disney movie can take care of some piece of it, all the better. Finding Nemo is, of course, not about history or even a historical subject, but the leap from a whale's echolocation to whaling history isn't that far. A bigger leap fo r getting this generation interested in whaling history is getting past the task of killing whales and the gruesomeness of cutting them up and processing their body parts into marketable goods, when today's youth are growing up in a culture where we promote conservation and appreciation for our natural world. Most kids want to save whales, not celebrate killing them. About a month ago, I picked up a new children's book produced by the Cape Cod Maritime Museum on whaling history, The Whaling Art journal ofAbigail M. Case. Abigail Case is a fictional character whose story pulls in a number of real-life stories involving whaling, sea captains who took their families to sea, and women who were taught how to navigate by their captain-husbands or captain-fathers. The book is aimed at yo ung people and seeks to not only get them interested in whaling history in particular and maritime history in general, it also aims to provoke interest in maritime material culture and folk art, as represented by artifacts on exhibit at the Cape Cod Maritime Museum. To these ends, it succeeds. Check. I try to keep my own over-enthusiasm for maritime subjects in check when assessing books, museum exhibits and programs, and things of this nature, especially when it comes to presenting them to young people.Just because I find it engaging, doesn't mean our electronic-device-obsessed children will. To that end, I sometimes seek the response of teenagers to gauge how well an article, book, documentary, or museum exhibit might be received by their peer group. Conveniently, I happen to have two teenagers in my house, one of whom I asked to read this book and tell me what he thought about it. He genuinely loved the illustrations, which admittedly are fantastic renderings, and was engaged enough in the story to want to talk about it and ask how much of it wou ld have been realistic. Hence, the conversation above that evolved from talking about scooping spermaceti from a dead whale's skull to the topic of echolocation. The story itself is well told, and those who think that "girl power" is a current phenomenon should reminded of the story of Eleanor Creesy, who went to sea with her captain-husband aboard the famous record-breaking clipper ship Flying Cloud and is credited with shortening the length of its New York to San Francisco voyage, having studied current and wind charts and planned the most expeditious route around Cape Horn. Joanna Colcord was born in 1882 at sea aboard the barque Charlotte A . Littlefield and spent her entire childhood sailing across the world's oceans, learning to speak and express herself in the language of her environment-nautical terms. Then there was Mary Patten, who as a teenager assumed command of the clipper ship Neptune's Car after her captain-husband became incapacitated with illness; she brought the ship safely to port in San Francisco, having sailed around Cape Horn to get there. These real-life characters make the fictional tale of Abigail Case's remarkable experience and her life at sea believable. The Whaling Art journal is beautifully presented, with sketches and watercolors by the talented and skillful Kristina Rodanas. Its leather cover and parchment-style paper evokes the look of an old-time journal. And the story itself, co-written by the museum's executive director, Chris Galazzi, and Ms. Rodanas, will pull in young readers and engage them in Abigail's story, and thus in the story of whaling and seafaring, When my son was finished going through the book, he said he thought it was good and that he thought other kids wo uld enjoy it. My son has no interest in humoring his mother on just about any topic these days (did I mention he's a teenager?), so I'll take him at his word. When I told him that the examples of scrimshaw illustrated in the book are real artifacts currently on display at the Cape Cod Maritime Museum, he said he'd really like to go there to see them in person. Check mate. -DEIRDRE O 'REGAN, Editor, Sea History, Cape Cod, Massachusetts SEA HISTORY 159, SUMMER 2017
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