Carry on, Mr. Bowditch

Author: Jean Lee Latham
General Summary and Plot
The Bowditch family is a family of seamen. This does not count out Nathaniel, the smallest male member of the family. Nat’s dream is to go to Harvard University. This dream is crushed when he must first drop out of school to work in his father’s shop, and secondly when his father indentures him at the age of 12 to learn trade and keep books as a ship chandlery for 9 years.
Nat goes to work and learns all he can about everything, writing down books full of ship terms and procedures. He teaches himself Latin, French, and Spanish with a bilingual dictionary and a Bible from that language. He teaches himself many other things like navigation and astronomy. He rewrites navigation charts when he finds errors in them. In the end, Nat commands his own ship and is given a degree from Harvard University though he never studied in its classrooms.

Positive Elements
Nat is a driven and intelligent young man, even when his teacher or his father discredits his abilities or makes decisions that ruin his dreams he obeys with all his might.
Nat spends his time on his ships educating the crewmen so they can advance in their fields.

Spiritual Content
Nothing memorable

Negative Elements
Nat’s father is an alcoholic, at times a recovering alcoholic but when his wife dies he gives up.
Almost everyone in Nat’s family dies, even his first wife.

Profanity
None (that I can remember)

Sexual Content
None

Violence
A couple of the men on Nat’s ships are hard and prone to violence, Nat curbs this by appreciating and educating them.


Overall Theme
You can do or learn anything into which you will put your mind and strength.

Conclusion
This biography was a little difficult to read. Years would pass in the middle of a paragraph. One sentence Nat’s mother is counseling him and the next sentence it is 6 months later and she has died. The next sentence is two years later and his grandmother has died.
There is nothing risky or controversial about this book and it is full of nothing too exciting. I had a hard time getting through it to be honest.

Suggested age group
The content is more for serious readers. Do not try getting a normal middle school student thrilled with the excitement of the “page turner.”