I, Tom Cringle, two days before my thirteenth birthday, have made the decision of my life: to go to sea. Just two and a half weeks after Tom makes this bold declaration, he sets sail aboard the Bream as a midshipman in England's navy. The War of 1812 is raging, and Tom's ship is headed for Jamaica to patrol the waters against pirates. Tom finds all the adventure he ever dreamed of -- and then some. Within his first few months as a sailor, he's caught...