Seven at Sea is a recounting of the adventures of a family of seven who leave their two-bedroom apartment in New York to live on a boat to sail the Caribbean for almost a year. The book covers the logistics of day-to-day living they faced including how the dream began, preparations before they left, learning how to sail, obstacles of fixing the boat, sailing information, descriptions of the islands they visited, how they gathered supplies, and making life-long friends along the way. It was interesting to see the juxtaposition of Erik’s perception on events next to Emily’s–husband and wife–as well as some insight as to what their children were experiencing.

Beyond the technical and obvious sailing portion of this book, there are underlying themes of the importance of taking risk, overcoming fears, living life in the now, slowing down to go with the flow, and doing what is most important. This book almost makes you want to take up sailing!

This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Shadow Mountain

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  1 mild obscenity.

Violence/Gore:  Report of a man in a car accident; report of a man getting a deep cut on his head; a minor receives a rope burn during a sailing incident.

Sex/Nudity:  A few sexual references; a few implied instances of sexual activity; a few non-sexual depictions of nudity–minors running around naked, minors skinny dipping.

Mature Subject Matter:

Dangerous travel conditions; marital difficulties.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

Reference to drunken sailors; minor takes a sip of wine unbeknownst to parents.