Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
Recommended. Age: 10+. A Catholic review of this book for parents.
Our review
Nat Bowditch is a poor boy in Salem who loves math. He has to leave school and work for nine years, so he teaches himself from books at night. He grows up to go to sea and writes a book that keeps sailors safe. Some people he loves die, so it is best for kids about nine and up. This is a fine book about making the most of a hard lot. Nat does not waste his indenture on self-pity. He studies, and then he shares what he learns with men no one else would teach. Faith is in the background and never mocked. Expect real grief along the way, and be ready to talk about it.
For parents
Read aloud from about eight. Independent reading from ten, which matches Plugged In's readability range of 10 to 14. Prepare a tender child for the deaths: Nat loses his mother and others he loves, and sailors are lost at sea. Use those chapters to talk about Christian hope and praying for the dead, which the book does not do. Ask: Nat lost his chance at Harvard. What did he do instead of sulking? Ask why he bothered to teach rough sailors math. Name the superstitions early in the book as false. Luck charms have no power, and we trust God's care instead. Plugged In notes a hint that Nat's father drank in his troubles.