Its 1804 and Jimmy Grimholt, youngest of 13 children, has just joined the Royal Navy. He is the smallest sailor aboard the H.M.S Fury, a warship bound for the English Channel to fight off Napoleon Bonaparte and his army. Jimmy is assigned to the crew manning 'Blasting Betty', a 32 pound cannon. His job as a 'powder monkey' means that during battles he has to run to the most dangerous place on the ship, the magazine store, retrieve bags of gunpowder, then race back to the crew. Jimmy also has an unusual talent; after almost drowning he can now see terrifying ghosts. He thought he had left them behind in Puddleditch, but no, ghosts can also be found aboard battleships and the descriptions are so gruesome that I was scared!

Winner of the Junior Fiction Award in the 2015 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. I love the drawings and extra detail in this book (plus the slang words) which must have taken a lot of research. The terrible food and motley crew, plus the bullying by the older boys and officers paints a realistic picture about what a hard life it must have been. Great for upper primary and intermediate students. ( )