“Mayday, Mayday!” the skipper shouts. “We’re on our side. Waves are sixteen feet and coming close together.”
Jake can barely hear the skipper’s words in the roaring wind. Will the Coast Guard answer the distress call? Did they even receive it?
The boat rolls on its side again and the power goes off. The skipper slams the microphone on the dashboard. “Radio’s gone. Everything’s gone.”
WILLIWAW WINDS is a tale of disaster based on the true story of how Sally Bair’s son and four others were rescued by the Coast Guard while returning from a crab fishing trip in Alaskan waters. Williwaws are violent winds that sweep across the Bering Sea and gain speed and strength as they go up the Alaska Mountains and plunge into the sea. Such is the setting for Sally Bair’s story.
Jake, 16, struggles with more than williwaws during his first crab fishing trip. He’s angry at his dad for caring more about his paralyzed sister than about him. He’s angry with God for causing her accident. He’s angry at a fellow crewman for relentlessly taunting him. And he’s angry with himself for running from responsibilities at home.
But facing WILLIWAW WINDS changes his anger to fear and changes his view about God. How will he and the others survive the raging seas?
WILLIWAW WINDS is for anyone of age 8 and up … for anyone who loves to read … who hates to read … who tolerates reading.
WILLIWAW WINDS is for anyone who enjoys the excitement, entertainment, and inspiration of a good book.
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“I couldn’t stop reading once I’d started—such a good story. The detail of how they caught the crabs … all the details add such depth and put the reader right there in the boat. Great job!”
-Cleo, a student of Writer’s Online Workshop
“What an exciting story! It’s full of lessons that come across well, not preachy. Your descriptions are well done; I started feeling seasick just reading it.”
-Diana, another student of Writer’s Online Workshop.
“An inspiring tale. Keeps you on the edge of your seat as you watch a boy come of age.”
-Boyd Sutton, Editor, The Wis. Writers’ Journal
