Jill Vedebrand
Published: 2004-03-02
Total Pages: 294
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Two young men from opposite sides of the world are dreaming to escape from their life at home and to become sailors. In the tropics, Georgio runs away and becomes trapped on a tuna fishing vessel bound for West Africa. In the frozen north, Leif finds work on a passenger cargo liner. They meet in a dramatic shipwreck, as one rescues the other, but their friendship brings conflict ashore as wellas at sea. Leifs obsession with an old cargo sailing boat leads them both into a deadly adventure of murder and betrayal and their courage and skills are tested to the extreme. The story is fiction. The historical background, the ships and their operations are based on fact. Not suitable for children under 12; book is for young adult or general readership. Story begins when characters are 14 and 16 and continues over the next 6 years of their lives. Reviews Adventures on the high seas, sailing ships across vast oceans, visiting colourful places as poles apart as Scandinavian glaciers and Amazonian jungles are all excitingly found within the covers of Jill Vedebrand's wonderful book, Two Sailors. Set in the late 1950s, this nautical tale is gripping from the very start and tells how, through fate and circumstance, two boys bedome best friends. The two sailors in question, Georgio, a 14-year-old Brazilian boy, and Leif, a 16-year-old Swedish boy, have apparently more than poor backgrounds and hard working families in common. They both have an irrepressible dream of escaping to the sea and this dream will one day bring them together from opposite sides of the equator. In a town just south of the stifling heat of Rio de Janeiro, Georgio knows that the only way of escaping a five year stint as an apprentice in a sweatshop is to run away. He heads to the docks and becomes a stowaway on what turns out to be a Japanese fishing vessel bound for West Africa. Meanwhile, on a remote frozen wasteland of a farm in Sweden, Leif longs for spring to arrive and imagines that becoming a sailor would lead to a full, rather than dull, experience. For over two years, each has their own enthralling adventure and gains valuable experience at sea. Leif, on a passenger cargo ship bound for Argentina, and Georgio, as one of the crew on the Japanese fishing boat. Then tragedy strikes and, off the South American Coast, Leif is able to save Georgio's life. This dramatic sea rescue brings them both together, not as boys, but as young men. From then on, through love, jealousy, hate and rivalry, they lead each other into both adventure and danger. A terrifying journey across the Atlantic Ocean calls for them to make use of their hard-earned sea faring skills. However, even that experience, could not prepare them for the uncharted depths of the Amazon River where hidden perils await. Jill Vedebrand is no stranger to the sea and this is so evident from her clear, informed, and compelling writing. Her storytelling sweeps you along, from the vivid mind pictures of the frozen snow-laden lakes of Scandinavia, to the humidity of the tropics. Life at sea is brilliantly evoked and the descriptive, emotive writing lifts this tale so that you can actually see, smell and feel the ship and the ocean around you. After a bit of an adventure? I bet you can't put this one down. Janice Horton for Dumfries and Galloway Standard, May 14, 2004 'A brilliant boy's novel (and girls will not be bored by any means). I love it! Emotions are very well depicted in this fast moving teenage and young person adventure story. Jill Vedebrand presents her memorable characters in a vast array of scenes and moods." Kate Stanforth, B.A., Dip. Ed., English Teacher
