Boating Books for the Summer

Taste the wind and salty sea breeze with these adventure-swamped books!  Whether you're heading to some water to cool off or not this summer, these tales will take you far and wide and refresh your spirit on the way. 

1. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis
You can't get more bodacious than exploring islands, escaping rampaging sea serpents, and learning about bizarre and potentially dangerous magic. This is one of my favorite books in Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia series. Read it to find out why! 

2. Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
Ever wonder how Peter Pan became Peter Pan? This children's fantasy book offers the answer and thrilling scenes on the open ocean. 

3. Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson
I've always been intrigued with scuba diving, so when I saw this nonfiction book about divers who found a submarine wreck off the coast of New Jersey and risked everything to uncover its secrets, I dove right in. Not very often do you get to explore boats from beneath the waves. 

4. Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer
You can't have boats without pirates! And you can't have the boat in this YA novel without Bloody Jack, a female pretending to be a male. All the possible complications you can think of can undoubtedly be found in this book and series. 

5. The Odyssey by Homer 
This is for all you classic-lovers (which includes me). Odysseus just wants to return home to his wife and son after the epic Greek battle. But it's not easy; he must face a love-struck nymph, Cyclopes, and cannibals. Will he ever see his family and home again? 

6. Downriver by Will Hobbs
This book takes place not on the ocean, but on the mighty Grand Canyon rapids. A group of teens traveling via kayaks must overcome challenges they had never expected to survive the roiling river and life in the wild. 

7. The Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer 
Who knows the sea better than vikings? Travel through northern England's sea to the land of trolls with Jack, and apprentice bard, and the vikings who took him and his sister captive. Will his newfound magic be enough to save them? 

8. The Young Man and the Sea by Rodman Philbrick
A well-written tale about a boy, Skiff, who's healing from his mother's death and revamping his father's fishing boat on the New England coast. I learned oceans-full about the fishing way of life in this small, quaint town and the difficulties of being a boy here. 

9. Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie
Murder can occur anywhere, even while traveling via boat on the Nile River! 

10. Pirates! by Celia Rees
This is one young lady who's not hiding her identity. But unlike Bloody Jack, she's joined a pirate ship.