"The Herons are home in Skandia--preparing to celebrate two of their own and working on sea trials in the newly constructed Heron. But during a short excursion, they encounter an Iberian pirate ship raiding the coast of Sonderland, so Hal and his crew take action. Though the Herons quickly triumph, the Iberians voice their fury at the Herons, vowing to take revenge. And soon they do--raiding the harbor and stealing or destroying as many ships as they...

Thirteen-year-old Sophie and her cousin Cody record their transatlantic crossing aboard the Wanderer, a forty-five foot sailboat, which, along with uncles and another cousin, is en route to visit their grandfather in England.

Sixth-grader Ben Pratt's life is full of changes that he does not like--his parents' separation and the plan to demolish his seaside school to build an amusement park--but when the school janitor gives him a tarnished coin with some old engravings and then dies, Ben is drawn into an effort to keep the school from being destroyed.

"Off a small island, a boy and his grandfather set sail in their beloved fishing boat. They ride the waves, catching wants and wishes and seeing the wonders of the ocean. But soon the boy is sailing the boat himself, drifting further from shore as the waters grow muddied and turbulent. When a storm washes him ashore, he sees home in a new light"--