From the Publisher
Fourteen-year-old pickpocket John Jacob Turnstile has just been caught red-handed and is on his way to prison when an offer is put to him---a ship has been refitted over the last few months and is about to set sail with an important mission. The boy who was expected to serve as the captain’s personal valet has been injured and a replacement must be found immediately.
Given the choice of prison or a life at sea, John soon finds himself on board, meeting the captain, just as the ship sets sail. The ship is the Bounty, the captain is William Bligh, and their destination is Tahiti. Their journey, however, will become one of the most infamous in naval history.
Mutiny is the first novel to explore all the events relating to the Bounty’s voyage, from the long passage across the ocean to their adventures on the island of Tahiti and the subsequent forty-eight-day expedition toward Timor. This vivid retelling of the notorious mutiny is packed with humor, violence, and historical detail, while presenting an intriguingly different portrait of Captain Bligh and Mr. Christian than has ever been presented before.
Internationally bestselling author John Boyne has been praised as “one of the best and original of the new generation of Irish writers” by the Irish Examiner. Now, with Mutiny, he has created an eye-opening story of life---and death---at sea.
Publishers Weekly
Boyne (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas) revisits William Bligh's doomed expedition in this adequate seafaring historical. Captain's servant John Jacob Turnstile, a 14-year-old orphan and thief, avoids a prison sentence by accepting a position aboard Bligh's ship, the Bounty. The ship's mission to Tahiti is tumultuous, and once the ship reaches its destination, some crew members become enamored of the island women. On the return voyage, they stage a mutiny and turn the ship around, forcing Bligh and the sailors loyal to him onto a small boat with minimal provisions. Boyne's take on the story capitalizes less on the tension among the warring factions, focusing more heavily on Turnstile's coming-of-age, while Bligh wavers between an abrasive task master and a health nut with a sensitive side. The novel succeeds as a historical adventure, but it doesn't add much to the already bulging bulk of Bounty books. (Feb.)
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VOYA
This novel about the fated voyage of the H.M.S. Bounty is told by John Jacob Turnstile, the fourteen-year-old servant to Captain William Bligh. After being arrested for stealing a pocket watch, Turnstile joins the Bounty expedition as an alternative to a jail sentence. An orphan affiliated with a shady establishment in Portsmouth, England, Turnstile has no experience of life at sea, but he learns quickly, relying on his street smarts and his enthusiasm for an honest lifestyle to make him successful in his new job. As the person with the most access to the captain, Turnstile observes Bligh's integrity and hard work, especially during the severest challenges of the voyage. Turnstile is surprised when, after a long stay on Tahiti, the mutiny takes place, and he and sixteen other crewmembers who support the captain leave the ship with him in a small launch, which they sail through the South Pacific for six weeks until finally landing on Java and sailing home to England. The novel is filled with adventure as well as interesting descriptions of life aboard ship. Turnstile quietly observes the character of the officers and crew, and he raises questions near the end of the story about how history will treat Captain Bligh and the mutiny. Boys interested in historical adventure stories will enjoy this book. Reviewer: Jenny Ingram
School Library Journal
Gr 9 Up
This riveting account set in 1789 is narrated by 14-year-old John Jacob Turnstile, Captain Bligh's fictitious servant. Arrested as a pickpocket, he is offered a choice of jail or ship duty. As Turnstile adjusts to life aboard ship, he develops respect and admiration for his master. The later infamous William Bligh is portrayed as a shrewd navigator and devoted husband and father whose moodiness and rigid adherence to duty, loyalty, and honor often antagonize his crew. After six months on idyllic Tahiti, second-in-command Fletcher Christian leads 23 crew members in a mutiny, forcing Bligh and 18 loyal crew members into a 23-foot launch with only a compass and meager rations. Incredibly, with only one fatality, Bligh, Turnstile, and their companions row more than 3600 miles to a Portuguese settlement on Timor. Nursed back to health, the surviving crew returns to England where their story captures public attention. Imbuing the story with facts drawn from Bligh's personal documents, legal transcripts of his court martial, English naval protocol, and nautical history, Boyne has created a masterful adventure. According to Turnstile's poignant narrative, Bligh is more conflicted than cruel; Christian, the chief mutineer, is more arrogant than charismatic. Turnstile's quick wit and lively descriptions mask his insecurity and traumatic memories of sexual abuse. Like the crew, however, he eventually finds "pleasure" with a Tahitian girl. Teens will be captivated by this high-seas adventure, the abundance of bawdy banter, the drama of shipboard relationships, the desperate voyage of Bligh and his loyal companions, and one boy's coming-of-age.-Gerry Larson, Durham School of the Arts,NC
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