As a digital subscriber, you’ll receive unlimited access to Horn Book web exclusives and extensive archives, as well as access to our highly searchable Guide/Reviews Database.
To access other site content, visit The Horn Book homepage.
To continue you need an active subscription to hbook.com.
Subscribe now to gain immediate access to everything hbook.com has to offer, as well as our highly searchable Guide/Reviews Database, which contains tens of thousands of short, critical reviews of books published in the United States for young people.
Thank you for registering. To have the latest stories delivered to your inbox, select as many free newsletters as you like below.
No thanks. Return to article
323 pp.
| Harcourt |
January, 2009 |
TradeISBN 978-0-15-206194-4$17.00
(4)
YA
Meyer's fictionalized biography provides a first-person account of Charley's schooling, family life, romantic disappointments, and adventures on the HMS Beagle. Meyer admirably refuses to idealize Darwin, but his struggles with church doctrine and antipathy toward slavery sit oddly with his stereotypical observations of thieving and naked natives. An author's note parsing fact from authorial liberty would have been useful. Bib.