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