Dare the Wind: The Record-Breaking Voyage of Eleanor Prentiss and the Flying Cloud

Gr 2–4—In the summer of 1851, the clipper Flying Cloud made the journey from New York City to San Francisco in a record-breaking 89 days and 21 hours despite several setbacks and dangers along the way. Much of the credit for that voyage goes to Ellen Prentiss Creesy, the ship's navigator. Based on the true story of that voyage, this book expertly describes Prentiss's early life, her love for the sea and the science of navigation, her marriage to Captain Perkins Creesy, and their remarkable accomplishment. Readers will find this fictionalized account gripping and inspiring. McCully's excellent watercolor illustrations include a number of period details and add a sense of movement and drama to the already exciting text. An author's note gives the factual background for the story, and a brief glossary serves to familiarize readers with nautical terms. This is a well-executed narrative on a topic that has not received much coverage since Armstrong Sperry's 1936 Newbery Honor book, All Sail Set: A Romance of the Flying Cloud (Winston, 1935).—Misti Tidman, Licking County Library, Newark, OH