Cruise Ship Kid: Thief At Sea!

This is Emma Swan’s debut novel, and she uses her own experience as a cruise ship kid, living with parents working on board, to give an authentic peek behind the scenes and to understand the work that is necessary to keep everything running smoothly. Most customers are nice, but some may be obnoxious and/or unreasonably demanding. 10 year-old Silver’s Mum is Deputy Cruise Director, and she has to keep smiling, no matter what happens.

Silver is supposed to do her homework, but she would much rather be out and about on the ship, though there are places where she is not allowed to go, and she resents sometimes being used as Mum’s assistant. The clientele are generally quite old, and Silver has her Gang, a group of older people on back-to-back cruises, including 100 year-old Betty in a wheelchair. She gets on very well with them, but she longs for a friend of her own age, and in this story, there are children who seem possible, but it’s not that simple…

When first one very expensive watch goes missing, and then another, Silver is determined to prove that her friend, the Steward Pedru (who cleverly makes towels into elephants) is not responsible. She hopes that the young people on board will respect her if she solves the crime, and one of them is supposedly helping, but only succeeds in getting her into trouble. In the end it’s The Gang who, with their support, show her that she doesn’t need to change her personality to make worthwhile friends. The young people join Silver in a celebratory party, and everyone realises the importance of intergenerational friendships- all very positive!

Emma Swan is also a Horrible Histories actress, so she knows what young readers might enjoy, and this book is full of jokes and fun. Katie Saunders’ artwork, starting with the cover, is in cartoon style, with Silver’s doodles, boxes with her theories and lists of suspects, spaces for readers’ own artwork (provided it’s their own copy they decorate!) fun facts and imaginative use of textual styles. It’s all spaced out well, so the book is not as long as it looks, and should be attractive to reluctant readers.