More than anything else, Matthew wants to be a stonehooker like his father and grandfather before him. He wants to help the crews rake the lake bottoms for the rock and stone that will be used to build houses and pave the streets of growing cities. He wants to sail the graceful schooners laden with their cargoes to the bustling ports on the distant shores of the lake.
Always, he is told he must wait until he is bigger and taller- and older.
But one beautiful summer day, Matthew's father relents and takes Matthew on their schooner, The Hannah May, for one of the last harvesting expeditions the schooner and her crew will make.
In The Stonehook Schooner, Judith Mills recalls the last years of the Great lakes stone trade through a boy's eyes - and aspirations. With spare prose and evocative drawings, she brings the past to vivid life, recreating the world of the stonehooking schooners. She has created a stunning and haunting tribute to lost ties and forgotten places.
