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The New York Times bestselling and National Book Award winning In the Heart of the Sea, soon to be a major motion picture directed by Ron Howard, adapted by the author for young readers.

On November 20, 1820, the whaleship Essex was rammed and sunk by an angry whale. Within minutes, the twenty-one-man crew, including the fourteen-year-old cabin boy Thomas Nickerson, found themselves stranded in three leaky boats in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with barely any supplies and little hope. Three months later, two of the boats were rescued 4,500 miles away, off the coast of South America. Of the twenty-one castaways, only eight survived, including young Thomas. Based on his New York Times best-seller In the Heart of the Sea, Nathaniel Philbrick recreates the amazing events of the ill-fated Essex through the sailors own first-hand accounts, photos, maps, and artwork, and tells the tale of one of the great true-life adventure stories.

"Horrifyingly engrossing." -Kirkus Reviews

"A compelling saga of desperation and survival." -School Library Journal

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Nathaniel Philbrick is the author of numerous highly acclaimed novels including the New York Times bestsellers Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History, and In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex, which won the National Book Award. His first book for young readers, Revenge of the Whale: The True Story of the Whaleship Essex, was a Boston Globe-Horn Book Nonfiction Honor Book. His most recent books are Why Read Moby-Dick?, The Last Stand, Bunker Hill, and Sea of Glory. A champion sailboat racer, he has lived on Nantucket Island since 1986. Visit Nathaniel Philbrick at www.nathanielphilbrick.com.

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