Michael Morpurgo · 1999 · sea

When his parents lose their jobs, eleven-year-old Michael sails around the world with them aboard the yacht Peggy Sue, until a storm washes him and his dog overboard in the Pacific and he wakes on a desert island that is not, it turns out, deserted at all.

1. 1
   Southampton

   Made redundant from the brickworks, Michael's parents sell up, buy the Peggy Sue, and set sail from England for a voyage around the world.

2. 2
   A Coruna

   After a rough passage through the Bay of Biscay, the family makes landfall in Spain, the first of many ports on their great adventure.

3. 3
   Rio de Janeiro

   In Brazil Michael plays football on the beach with local children before they scrub the boat down for the long South Atlantic haul.

4. 4
   Cape Town

   They cross to South Africa, passing the lonely island of St Helena where Napoleon died, and press on into the Indian Ocean.

5. 5
   Perth

   In Australia they stay with Uncle John on his vast sheep farm while Michael's mother sees a doctor about her illness.

6. 6
   The Island

   Sailing on into the Pacific, Michael and his dog Stella are swept overboard one calm night, and he wakes marooned on the island kingdom of the old castaway Kensuke.