Shearwater, by Khiem Tran

Some years ago khiemtran documented his adventures learning to sail, and after that, his adventures restoring a Mirror dinghy and the trips he and his son took aboard it. It was fabulous--I really felt like I was learning to sail, reading those entries.

Later, he drew on those experiences to write a short novel for young people: Shearwater, which he's now published. In Shearwater ten-year-old Andy and thirteen-year-old Priya help Andy's Uncle Phil restore a Mirror, and Uncle Phil teaches them to sail, while telling them all kinds of stories--about the wood that Mirrors are made out of (“[it comes] from Gabon. They used to call it 'gaboon' ply. It would have come from a forest in Gabon all the way to Australia and then someone made it into a kit. It’s had an amazing journey. All Mirrors have.”), about Captain Cook's journey to Australia, about the Guringai people's boats, which carried fire in them (“The women would go out fishing in their nawi, with a little fire burning on a pile of rocks so they could cook their fish.”)

The pace is leisurely but always absorbing, full of gentle humor, and the insights are marvelous, as when Andy realizes that the strange behavior of wind comes from fact that it's reacting to the land:

"The wind is curving off the land!" he said.

"Andy, that is brilliant!" [Uncle Phil] said. "Some people take ages to figure that one out. In fact, it's curving off everything. Just think of water flowing past rocks in a stream and how it curves and bends. Well, the wind is just like that too, except you can't see it."
 
"Take a look out here across the river," Phil continued, sweeping his hand in a wide arc. "Just imagine for a moment that all the water here is actually rock and instead of air, there is water flowing over everything. Just think how it would bend off the land and around the islands. Where there'd be little eddies and whirlpools, fast patches and slow..."

Uncle Phil's stories are always fun, and when we meet Priya's dad, he's got some good ones too. Reading Shearwater, I really felt like a kid again myself, felt like I was learning these skills, having these adventures. It's transporting!

rachelmanija has a category of story she calls "Secret Garden" stories--stories that are quiet and intimate. She writes, "Those are books about a kid or kids (or occasionally a teen or adult) finding a private space for him or herself."

Shearwater has some of that: a space apart, and all the characters--including Uncle Phil--gaining a sense of accomplishment in what they're doing it. I highly recommend it!

Shearwater is available through Kobo and Amazon.

(Oh--it's come to my attention that Kobo link is for Australian Kobo--here is the American one.)