bThe iNew York Timesi bestselling and National Book Award winning iIn the Heart of the Sea, isoon to be ba major motion picture directed by Ron Howard, adapted by the author for young readers.b brbbbbrOn November 20, 1820, the whaleship iEssexi was rammed and sunk by an angry whale. Within minutes, the twenty-one-man crew, including the fourteen-year-old cabin boy Thomas Nickerson, found themselves stranded in three leaky boats in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with barely any supplies and little hope. Three months later, two of the boats were rescued 4,500 miles away, off the coast of South America. Of the twenty-one castaways, only eight survived, including young Thomas. Based on his iNew York Timesi best-seller iIn the Heart of the Seai, Nathaniel Philbrick recreates the amazing events of the ill-fated iEssexi through the sailors own first-hand accounts, photos, maps, and artwork, and tells the tale of one of the great true-life adventure stories. pHorrifyingly engrossing. --iKirku