Benjamin Franklin Orville is a boy without a care in the world. He has his own pony, he's caught the eye of the charming girl next door. He wants for nothing, until the day his mother sends him to market to get a chicken for dinner. Suddenly Benjy is caught up in a scuffle, kidnapped with a group of immigrants and forced to work aboard the Ella Dawn--one of the most ill-reputed oystering vessels in Baltimore. He tries to plead his case, but his captors are unimpressed byBenjamin's way with language. Soon the boy knows onlyhard work and hunger, a little bit of German, and a whole lot about injustice. It's more of an education than he ever got at home. And in between his growling stomach and his aching muscles, he also experiences the joys of the sea--a gentle rhythm that rocks him to sleep at night and freedom he never felt between the fancy walls of his home. Will Benjamin ever see his home again? And if he does, will he know what to do there?