The invasion of Sandy Bay. by Anita Sanchez

Sanchez, Anita. The invasion of Sandy Bay.
Calkins Creek (Boyd's Mill), 2008, 147p, $16.95, 978-1-59078-560-7.

In 1814, as the War of 1812 rages, twelve-year-old Lemuel Brooks tries to save the sleepy fishing village of Sandy Bay, Massachusetts, where he, himself, is an outsider, from bumbling British invaders.
The War of 1812 caused economic hardship for the inhabitants of Sandy Bay, Mass. However, because the men of the town were “mariners”, or fishermen, they had a special exemption from military service. Nonetheless, a British privateer who fired a cannon at the town in 1813 caused the citizens of Sandy Bay to muster a militia for their defense. But the militia was no match for the British frigate Nymph, who paid a visit to the seaside town in 1814. Lemuel Brooks, a young boy learning the fishing trade, is captured by the British, along with Bill Tar, an elderly fisherman while they are out to sea. The British force Lemuel and Bill to pilot the Nymph through the shoals and into a hidden cove, at which point Lemuel and Bill escape to raise the alarm. The British invasion destroys the fort and the church steeple, but ends in a draw: nine marines are captured when their cannon backfires and the British capture nine of the local militia. The captured British marines are jailed in the tavern owned by Lemuel’s mother, and it is from this vantage point that Lemuel witnesses a most unusual, and illegal and traitorous prisoner exchange, accomplished with subterfuge right under the nose of the officious Colonel Appleton from Gloucester. When Appleton becomes suspicious, Lemuel, who first saw the British as the enemy, now sees them as ordinary people like the citizens of Sandy Bay, does his part to create a diversion to aid in the prisoner exchange. The writing is engaging; the characters are secondary to the plot, which is based on historical events. The author details the events in the Afterword and she provides additional background information that fleshes out the action and the characters in the book. This lively, entertaining story of a young boy is framed against a little known period in American history and provides a detailed account of the lives of citizens who didn’t get a notation in Social Studies texts.
Recommended for libraries needing historical fiction with the War of 1812 setting. RZ