From School Library Journal
Grade 4-6–This present-day high-seas adventure features English twins Eric and Clive, who pick at, quip, and wisecrack with one another as they stow away on the cruise ship where their father is Senior Steward. In this laugh-out-loud story, the boys work their way through each problem confronting stowaways. They merge with a family group in order to embark. They find a sleeping room in "rat class," graze from buffets, lounge by the pool, nearly get stranded at a port of call in Egypt, and manage to stay away from first class, where their father works. Part of their cover-up involves befriending an elderly woman whom cruise mates believe is their grandmother. They out-swank the rich Swanker family by making them believe that the captain is their father and does not want anyone to know that his children are aboard. What one doesn't think of, the other does. Just when the two are discovered, robbers take over the ship, and father and sons spring into action. Eric tells the story in a voice that engages readers and is reminiscent of Kate DiCamillo's
The Tale of Despereaux (Candlewick, 2003) and Lemony Snicket's "A Series of Unfortunate Events" books (HarperCollins). Eric and Clive are double trouble and double fun.
–Jean Gaffney, Dayton and Montgomery County Public Library, Miamisburg, OH
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
Gr. 4-6. British twins Clive and Eric usually stay with their grandparents when their widowed father, a steward on luxury cruise ships, is at sea. Dreading boring weeks staring at their grandfather's "great big corduroy bottom" as he gardens, the boys decide to stow away on their father's ship. Miraculously, they slip through security and find bunks in an empty storage closet--"rat class," as Clive says. Shearer keeps the ensuing high jinks on a plane of pure slapstick as the boys nearly drown, evade their father and a posh classmate, visit Egypt on a port of call, and thwart a band of modern pirates. Readers may groan over narrator Eric's corny jokes, exaggerated naivete, and "Who's on First" digressions with his brother, whom he loves to disparage. Still, many children will enjoy the British-flavored comedy, the excitement, and the smugness of knowing where the story is headed before the boys do, as well as the understanding and closeness that deepens between the boys and their affectionate father.
Gillian EngbergCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
