Mary Patten Commands a Ship

Mary Patten was 19 years old. She had been married for three years. Her husband was Joshua Patten and he was a sea captain.
One day in 1856 her husband got a new job. A company wanted him to sail a cargo from New York to San Francisco.
"We have to take the job," he told Mary. "But I want you to go with me."
This was not the first trip like this that Joshua would make. He had done the same trip three years before. Mary had also gone with him that time.
Mary did not just spend her time sitting in her cabin. She spent it learning everything about sailing that she could.
Nothing bad happened on that trip. They thought that this one would be the same. It was not.

Find out what goes wrong and how Mary ends up in charge in this exciting 15-minute book.

Ages 7 and up.
Reading level 2.8

This book is part of our "Heroes in History" series. These 15-minute books focus on a specific moment in a historic person's life. Aimed at second graders, they provide the perfect introduction to famous Americans in an exciting, fun-to-read way.