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In The Face Of Real Adversity
Hold Fast: A Boy’s Life Aloft follows a 13-year-old boy and his cousin who are kidnapped by the British Navy and forced into service on their ship. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
The book is based on a paragraph found in a 1887 family history. The excerpt describes a mysterious occurrence in which two boys were pressed into service in the British Navy and ultimately what happens to them.
What were the morals you were trying to capture while creating your characters?
Our book includes themes of mercy versus revenge. Some characters must choose the person they’re going to be by showing tenacity in the face of real adversity.
What kind of research did you do for this novel to ensure you captured the essence of the story’s theme?
The research for the book relied heavily on primary sources like maps, logbooks, diaries, letters, etc. The research never really stops and around every corner is a new discovery that enhances the narrative.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
Our next book is actually out already! Blue-Eyed Slave came out in February of 2022 from Koehler books (here’s the link: https://www.koehlerbooks.com/book/blue-eyed-slave/). It’s another historical narrative based on a little-known story about an extraordinary teacher.
We’re about to start our third book, this one set in the prairie of Nebraska in the 19th century.
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What was supposed to be a “punishment” for a childish misadventure turns into a fight for survival on foreign seas. The boys have to rely on each other as they struggle with a new world of unfathomable rules and codes, near-death floggings, lethal storms, and intrigue. Their endurance depends not only on their own bravery and stamina but on how fast they can learn English. For the next two years the ship becomes their prison, their classroom, and their home. Eventually, Joseph Carlos has to make a choice that shapes what kind of person he becomes.
Hold Fast is a young adult, historical novel in the vein of Kidnapped. Based on a true story, it combines brutal storytelling and a poignant sense of humor while tracing the route of the Deptford across the Atlantic Ocean. This book follows the lives of two Italian boys, but it also tells the story of Harrison, the Sea Watch, and the discovery of longitude.
Hold Fast
Joseph Carlo agrees to join his younger cousin on a daring late-night expedition, but he has no inkling of the life-changing consequences it will bring. It is 1761. Italy. The boys are members of a sea-fearing family with a respectable name, so when it is discovered that they took an unthinkable risk, their uncle Honore has no choice. They must be punished. That punishment takes the two teens down a rabbit hole of adventure and adversity, crossing leagues of water and landing halfway across the world. Who could have imagined how the fortune-teller’s words would be fulfilled?
Hold Fast takes us way back to the 18th century, far from the comforts of home. The richly detailed descriptions of Highet and Jones evoke the world of seamen and the British Navy at war. It is not an easy world, and all the senses are engaged. There is quite a ride for the emotions, too – joy, pain, thrill, fear, anger, and stress. Here we meet historical figures and are present for recorded events. We read bits in Italian, French, and even Latin. There is so much to learn.
Hold Fast is an action novel with a cast of men – some feared, some admired, and a few loved. They impact us through the young boys Suchet and Joseph Carlo. Seeing it all through his eyes makes this novel an excellent read for teenagers. The story is inspired by real events, and readers may want to look up the Siege of Havana or the longitude watchmaker. They will learn more about the importance of physically holding fast to the mast of a sailing ship and standing firm in life’s figurative storms.
Hold Fast is a historical fiction young adult novel about the adventures of two teenagers who wind up on a British Navy ship and must learn the hard lessons of life at sea. This exciting novel gives readers a real life of the hardships of being a sailor in the 1700s. Readers will be captivated by the journey these two cousins go on and their story of survival.
Pages: 233 | ASIN : B07R5445VJ
LITERARY TITAN 