The Haunted Ship

A ship everyone swears is haunted. Three slow knocks in the dark. And a boy who knocks back. By dawn, the Marigold Pearl will be cut apart for scrap, unless eleven-year-old Jack Harlow can sail her to a lighthouse at the edge of the sea. Everyone in Port Harlow knows the old ship is haunted. Mason Pike's dad swears he saw a light inside her at midnight. The postmistress says she's cursed. Jack has spent his whole life walking past her with his eyes on his shoes, just like everyone else, including his grandad, who has taken the long way round for eleven years because he couldn't face her. Then, one night, three slow knocks come from inside her hull. When Jack answers, the ship answers too. She's fussy, funny and very particular about grammar, and she has one night left. She needs Jack to take her to the girl who once loved her and is still waiting. But the ship can't sail without a living hand on her wheel, and every promise Jack makes seems to break another. His six-year-old sister has stowed away, a harbour patrol is on his tail, and a gale is rolling in. If he turns back, the ship is lost, Ada never gets her goodbye, and Jack becomes one more person who heard her knocking and walked away. He can finish the voyage or get home on time. He can't do both.