Starboard

Wr. Nicola Skinner

Ill. Flavia Sorrentino

Pub. Harper Collins

Age Range - 9-13 years

Huge thanks to Harper Collins for kindly sending me a review copy 😃 

This is the story of Kirsten, an apparently happy and successful 11-year-old YouTube star who meets a ship that comes alive… and is claimed by it as its new captain as it breaks free from its dry dock.

Inspired by the true history of the SS Great Britain, Starboard is about the friendship, heroism and bravery that you can find in others, whether they’re made of flesh or iron. It’s about taking control of your own life and going on epic adventures. But most of all, it’s about finding out who you really dare to be, when you’re completely out of your depth…

 

Starboard is every inch a Nicola Skinner story. The wit, the wordplay, the protagonist's pivotal emotional turning point. It's a poignant read, and I was reminded many times of my experience reading Storm.

The story is broken into six parts, and it charts a course to New York, the Lost Sea, and the Falklands. Each destination is as much an emotional achorage as it is a physical port of call: in the Falklands, we discover the sad history of the SS Great Britain and how she ("all ships are she") came to be broken; in New York, we learn about the volatility of fame and its impact on Kirsten; and in the Lost Sea, we see the fragility of the friendship between Kirsten and Olive. There are other destinations, but to talk about them would be to spoil the story!

Like Sorrel Fallowfield (Bloom) and Frankie Ripley (Storm) before her, Kirsten Bramble is an unwilling (and unwitting) hero who must come to terms with her destiny. The story is about the ship shepherding Kirsten to confront her demons and find a happy ending. Similarly, Kirsten must learn to manoeuvre the ship in order that she finds an ending of her own. Each, in effect, must steer the other. It's not, I'm sure, called Starboard for nothing.

The novel bristles with the author's love for the SS Great Britain, and the historical (and non-historical) notes at the end are genuinely touching. Nicola has conjured something truly magical here - a respectful, heart-felt ode to Isambard Kingdom Brunel that bows to his brilliance whilst planting the love of his life in a gloriously imaginative wonderland (wanderland?). The dream sequences and the sentient map sparkle with magic realism, while the computer game discussions between Kirsten and Olive are rooted in the mundanity of normal life. As if on deck ourselves, we are rocked from one reality to the other. It takes a skilled writer to strike the right balance between the two. It came as no suprise that Nicola strikes just that balance.

Starboard is a beautiful novel, illustrated with the usual grace and flourish of Flavia Sorrentino, and is, as with all Nicola's books, a must read.

 

teaching ideas

themes in the novel

These are some of the themes I was drawn to (major spoilers here): 

 

• Friendship - Kirsten and Olive were once best friends, but became estranged when Kirsten became a YouTube sensation.
• Betrayal - Just as Kirsten betrayed Olive in the early days of her social media career, so too was the ship betrayed by people. In Part 3 (Chapter 33 - "Storytime", Chapter 34 - "Much Gasping", and Chapter 35 - "A Floating Suitcase") we learn about how the SS Great Britain came to be broken. In Part 4 (Chapter 45 - "A Decision") Kirsten faces the dawning realisation that her friendship with Olive ended because she betrayed her.
• Bravery - Linked to issues of friendship, fame and forgiveness, Kirsten must find her inner courage to take a stand against a life she no longer enjoys living, and to fight for a friendship she sorely misses.
  
• Forgiveness - a recurring theme throughout the novel, affecting both Kirsten and Olive, but also the ship. In Part 5 (Chapter 69 - "A Fair Swap"), Kirsten finds her courage and confronts her demons by seeking Olive's forgiveness. But it seems Kirsten isn't the only one who should seek forgiveness, and Olive talks about the culpability of the producers of her TV show...
  
• Fame - ...Kirsten is a social media superstar, something young people will be able to relate to. But is fame all it's cracked up to be? (Spoiler - no, it's not). As Olive points out in Part 5 (Chapter 69 - "A Fair Swap"), Kirsten was manipulated and exploited by TV execs.
  
•  The journey of life - The mighty iron ship, for all her long years, is as susceptible to the pain of battoned-down emotions as anyone who draws breath. Issues like unresolved conflicts and unspoken feelings pervade the story, and only find their resolution in the end of the story, see Part 5 (Chapter 69 - "A Fair Swap") and Part 6 (Chapter 74 - "Bubbles").
  

in the classroom 

• History. Obvious links with the British maritime industry. Each part of the story is prefaced with a quote from Ewan Corlett or Isambard Kingdom Brunel and the author includes a useful bibliography, prompting discussion of these original texts.
• PSHE. Issues of friendship and forgiveness.