Course of the waterman /

At 17, Bailey Kraft assumes that he will follow his father and generations of earlier Kraft men by becoming a waterman on the Elizabeth River near his home on Maryland's Eastern Shore. He rebels against his father's suggestion that he attend college before deciding on a vocation and becomes more determined than ever after his father's unexpected heart attack and death. As he tries desperately to fill his father's shoes during the summer and fall of his senior year in high school, Bailey is driven to succeed by sadness over his recent loss, anger at his mother for taking charge, jealousy toward his best friend, and guilt over his own feelings and actions-until fate intervenes. In this fine first novel, winner of the 2003 Fred Bonnie Memorial Award, freelance journalist Robson offers precise insight into the teenage pysche and thorough knowledge of boating and the East Coast fishing industry (she grew up on Chesapeake Bay and is married to a tugboat captain). Recommended for YA and adult audiences.-Thomas L. Kilpatrick, Southern Illinois Univ., Carbondale Lib. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.