<b>The&nbsp;<i>New York Times</i>&nbsp;bestselling and National Book Award winning&nbsp;<i>In the Heart of the Sea,&nbsp;</i>soon to be&nbsp;<b>a major motion picture directed by Ron Howard, adapted by the author for young readers.<b>&nbsp;<br></b></b></b><br>On November 20, 1820, the whaleship&nbsp;<i>Essex</i>&nbsp;was rammed and sunk by an angry whale.&nbsp; Within minutes, the twenty-one-man crew, including the fourteen-year-old cabin boy Thomas Nickerson, found themselves stranded in three leaky boats in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with barely any supplies and little hope.&nbsp; Three months later, two of the boats were rescued 4,500 miles away, off the coast of South America.&nbsp; Of the twenty-one castaways, only eight survived, including young Thomas.&nbsp; Based on his&nbsp;<i>New York Times</i>&nbsp;best-seller&nbsp;<i>In the Heart of the Sea</i>, Nathaniel Philbrick recreates the amazing events of the ill-fated&nbsp;<i>Essex</i>&nbsp;through the sailors own first-hand accounts, photos, maps, and artwork, and tells the tale of one of the great true-life adventure stories.<br><br>&quot;Horrifyingly engrossing.&quot; —<i>Kirkus Reviews<br><br></i>&quot;A compelling saga of desperation and survival.&quot;&nbsp;—<i>School Library Journal</i>