The book tells the story of Charlotte Doyle, a 13 year old girl, who boards a ship called the Seahawk in 1832 for a voyage from England to her home in Providence, Rhode Island. She is raised in an upper-class family and, as she says in the beginning, wants to be a lady. The author puts much emphasis on her wanting to be proper. Her family has already gone to Rhode Island and she was left to come alone in order to finish her year of schooling at the Barrington School for Better Girls. As the other families that were supposed to accompany her mysteriously fail to appear, Charlotte finds herself the only passenger on the voyage to Rhode Island and the sole female on board.

Charlotte is devastated by the horrible conditions on the ship and thinks of the crew as her inferiors. Captain Jaggery is the only person Charlotte can relate to on the ship. Early in the voyage she meets Zachariah, an old African cook. Zachariah gives Charlotte a small dirk “for her protection” and tells Charlotte that the crew seeks revenge against the captain for some of his actions. She later has tea with Captain Jaggery. During this meeting, Captain Jaggery tells Charlotte that he has a few muskets and that those are the only guns aboard on the ship. As the book progresses, she slowly mingles with the crew and reads to them from her books.

Later in the book Charlotte finds herself watching a member of the crew sew. The needle snaps and Charlotte offers to get a new one for him. She goes into the forecastle, the crew’s room. While looking for the needle she sees a pistol (contrary to the captain’s words) and a round-robin, a pact telling of an imminent uprising of the crew against the captain. Charlotte goes to tell Captain Jaggery, who then calls the crew on deck. They arrive with weapons, ready to attack, but none do so because of the captain’s muskets. Charlotte is forced to take sides in the mutiny. A member of the crew is killed and Zachariah is first whipped by the first mate Mr. Hollybrass, then whipped again, mercilessly by the Captain. Charlotte does not think as highly of Captain Jaggery anymore and feels that he is rather cruel.

Charlotte decides to join the crew to make up for causing the death and whipping of the two crew members. She is at first rejected, but then the crew agrees to let her in if she can climb to the highest point of the ship, the royal yard. After an arduous climb, she comes back down successfully. She learns to do the crew’s jobs.

The captain leads the ship into a hurricane in an attempt to make up for lost time. In the commotion, the First mate is killed with Charlotte’s knife. The captain charges Charlotte with the murder of the ship’s First Mate. The captain finds Charlotte guilty after the trial. Though sentenced to be hanged, she ends up confronting the captain on the bowsprit and as Captain Jaggery is about to fall over board, Charlotte has the option to save him, or let him fall to his watery death. The captain falls into the ocean and drowns. Her friend, Zachariah, tells the crew they need a new captain, and Charlotte is chosen to be the new captain of the ship (though only in name, while Zachariah takes charge instead).

Charlotte Doyle Summary

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Can someone help me with The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle?
Can someone tell me a short summary of The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle without spoiling the ending or secrets? Is it good? Thank you for answering these questions if you have. I must read this book for school, though. I only have 9 more days to finish and I am only on page 24. Please…

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