The Invasion of Sandy Bay

A young boy plays a key role when the War of 1812 comes to his Massachusetts coastal fishing village. The little town of Sandy Bay, Massachusetts, was the site of one of the wildest invasions in U.S. history, when the might of the British Empire came up against hardheaded New England townsfolk. The Invasion of Sandy Bay, based on eyewitness accounts of actual events, tells the tale—through the eyes of a twelve-year-old boy—of what happened on the night when the British put too much gunpowder in one of their cannons. The hilarious—and true—events of the topsy-turvy invasion are set against the backdrop of the dangerous lives of the fishermen. Includes author's notes and bibliography.

The warship took shape in the gloom, slowing to a glide as the flapping sails were furled with a rattle and clatter. The tops of the great masts were hidden in the fog. Gilded carving decorated the frigate's bow and stern, just visible through the streamers of mist, and Lemuel spelled out the curving gold letters of her name: Nymph. —FROM THE BOOK

Anita Sanchez spent her early childhood on Cape Ann, the site of The Invasion of Sandy Bay. A graduate of Vassar College, she has been an environmental educator for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for thirty years. She is the author of The Teeth of the Lion: The Story of the Beloved and Despised Dandelion. She lives in Amsterdam, New York. The Invasion of Sandy Bay is her first book for children.