My most favorite book is Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. I have read it about five times and listened to it on tape around fifteen times. It begins when Robinson Crusoe is a little over apprentice age, yet has found no place he desires to work, and wishes only to go to sea. His father is strictly against this, and with tears and firm talk, warns him against the dangers and ruin of the sea. Heedless of his father, Robinson runs away to sea with an enticing friend. Days later, the ship's crew find themselves on a coast with their ship floundered in a great storm. After getting some money in his pocket, he finds another ship in which to sail, and is captured by a Moroccan Man o' War. Through much thinking, Robinson escapes and is picked up by a Scottish captain and taken to Brazil. After being a planter a few years, Robinson is taken on a ship as supercargo to go trade for slaves on the coast. But after being through two hurricanes, Robinson and the rest of the crew are shipwrecked on an island and all but Crusoe drowned. After spending a night in a tree, he works to get all possible from the ship before it is blown apart by a storm. How he survives from the ships stores and all his invention and diligence is quite amazing. Be sure to read to the end to discover Robinson Crusoe's fate on this dismal island. I highly recommend this book. For further reading, try the sequel to Robinson Crusoe - The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe.

Reviewed by John