The Ship of Cloud and Stars

Nico Cloud is fascinated by science and fossils much like her famous explorer aunt Ruth. But this is 1832 when girls are supposed to stay at home doing embroidery and remain uneducated.   When Nico’s natural curiosity leads her father to confiscate her natural history books she decides to run away to see if she can find the ship her aunt has embarked on for her next expedition.  Nico follows a calico kitten on board the ship but the stowaways are soon discovered by Matteo and Etienne, sons of the crew.   After their initial horror at finding a girl on board (it was considered unlucky for a girl to be on a ship) they soon take her under their wings and show her how the ship runs.  Nico finds her aunt dressed as a man to spare the crew the embarrassment of having a woman on board and she manages to persuade aunt Ruth not to send her home as she might be a useful asset after all.

So begins a lively and page-turning adventure involving pirates, a plot to steal fossilized seeds from a supposedly Mythical Tree of Hope from the botanical gardens in Sicily and the difficulties involved in not only being taken seriously as a female scientist in a man’s world during that period but getting any sort of education as a woman at all.

The characters are really engaging – the resourceful Nico and her stalwart Aunt Ruth in particular – but the friendship that develops between Nico and the boys is delightful too.  It does perhaps stretch incredulity a little far at times, but it is such a warm, open and feelgood story that children will be carried away by the exuberance of the heroine and the captivating adventure.  The black and white illustrations were unseen at the time but look promising.  There are plenty of interesting facts and observations sprinkled throughout the story that the eager fact collector will enjoy too.