First-class adventure for young teens of either sex, The Wreck of the Zanzibar is told through the journal entries and watercolor illustrations of 14-year-old Laura Perryman in 1907 and 1908. She lives on England's Bryher Island, a barren locale at the mercy of wind, weather and sea. During one especially rugged winter, residents are given to hoping for a shipwreck to provide them with enough supplies for the season. Though girls are not supposed to use a rowboat, she longs to. Then, a fierce storm and wrecked ship give her the chance to fulfill her dream and save the island. The book won England's Whitbread Prize in 1995.