<P>In the early 1950s, an eleven-year-old boy boards a ship bound for England and at mealtimes is seated at the "cat's table" with a ragtag group of insignificant adults and two other boys. As the ship makes its way across the seas, the boys tumble from one boisterous adventure to another.</P><P>But there are other diversions that are not so innocent. At night, the boys spy on a shackled prisoner -- his crime and fate a galvanizing mystery that will haunt them forever.</P><P>As the narrative moves between the decks and holds of the ship, it tells a spellbinding story about the differences between the tender innocence of childhood and the burdens of earned understanding.</P>