WRITING TOEFL ESSAYS BOOK REVIEW THE JOURNAL OF JAKE CARPENTER

WRITING TOEFL ESSAYS

BOOK REVIEW

THE JOURNAL OF JAKE CARPENTER

This illustrated book is a fabulous story that is also very witty.

It is the story of a boy who lives in Virginia in the eighteenth century. One day he went to sea in a boat and then was taken captive by a group of pirates. He spent weeks on the pirate ship and got to know all about their lives. The story is not actual fact. It didn't really happen. But the details in the book are very well researched and based on fact.

It has got lots of facts about sailing ships at that time and about the equipment they had and the customs of the sailors. It tells you a lot about why men became pirates (because they got fed up with being treated so badly on normal ships) and it's even got notes at the end that tell you more about the history of the time, so it's like having a history lesson but it makes it more enjoyable.

The story is written like a diary. Jake writes all his adventures in it. Some of the things that happen are quite bloodthirsty. There is rather a lot of blood in the pictures because the pirates cut bits off their victims and kill them. Some
kids might not like this.

The illustrations are very good. They are very clear and colourful and humorous, but they are sometimes rather scary. Most young children enjoy pictures and adventure stories so I reckon they will enjoy this book very much.