Bonnie the Friendship Sloop: A Story About Making It Through Hard Times

By Charles Ferguson Barker

This little paperback has a big message.

Cole and Clare love to play with Bonnie, their little toy Friendship sloop, in Moosehead Lake, where the mighty Kennebec River starts its long journey to the ocean. Every night, Cole ties Bonnie tightly to the dock so that she will be safe and sound until the next morning. But one evening as the moon shines over the lake, the rope’s knot comes loose and Bonnie drifts away. Bonnie is helpless as the river’s strong current pulls her downstream. Frightened but determined to stay calm until she can find her way back home, Bonnie sets out on a journey down the Kennebec River to the mighty Atlantic Ocean and along the New England coast. As Cole and Clare search for Bonnie all along Moosehead Lake and beyond, the toy boat must deal with bullies, rapids, the swirls of an eddy, and the dangers of a rip current. All the way, Bonnie wonders whether she will ever be reunited with her friends. In this charming, touching tale, a little toy boat struggling to find her way back home learns to never give up hope, value friendship, and remember that it is always darkest before the dawn. This book about making it through hard times is truly for all ages: Children, Teens, Adults, and the Elderly. For a new approach to spending quality time, try reading it to those elderly who can no longer read for themselves.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Mar 16, 2018
• ISBN: 9781532037399

Charles Ferguson Barker

Charles Ferguson Barker teaches introductory Geology at Wayne State University where he is adjunct faculty in the Geology Department. He is a member of the Geological Society of America and the Association of Environmental Professionals and has been working in the environmental consulting field for eighteen years where he has been involved with issues ranging from water supply contamination to air quality.

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Copyright © 2013 Charles Ferguson Barker.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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ISBN: 978-1-5320-3738-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-3739-9 (e)

iUniverse rev. date: 03/15/2018

O ne

hot summer afternoon, Clare and Cole went with their father to the little blue toy store in downtown Bath, Maine.

Cole and Clare had saved all year long for the toy boat they had seen in the store window, and today they would take it home.

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Inside the musty old store, Mr. MacKenzie, the friendly shopkeeper, gently lifted the toy boat from its perch in the window and handed it to Clare and Cole, whose eyes were wide with excitement.

There you are now, crew—your own Friendship sloop, said Mr. MacKenzie, whose eyes sparkled as if he was recalling fond days at sea long ago.

Friendship sloop? asked Cole, holding the fine boat in his hands as Clare ran her fingers across its canvas sails.

"Aye, Friendship sloops have been built up the coast at Friendship,