IRW Community Book Club: “The Young Man and the Sea”
This summer’s IRW Community Book Club gave children and adults the chance to follow the adventures of Skiff Beaman Jr., the main character in The Young Man and the Sea by Rodman Philbrick. This program, originally scheduled for summer 2020, was a celebration of Maine and its characters that brought participants together, through reading and sharing in other activities over the course of four weeks in July.
Participants received Adventure Totes filled with copies of Philbrick’s book, a logbook to track their activities, and a paper Japanese koi fish to paint and decorate. We first met virtually to get acquainted and delve into the book. We drew maps of what we imagined the village of Spinney Cove to look like, and paint our koi fish together onscreen.
Nan Lincoln, writer and historian at the Tremont Historical Society in Bass Harbor, gave participants a tour of the museum and a chance to see a real tuna harpoon just like the one our main character uses in the book. IRW also hosted an art workshop with Maine author and illustrator, Rebekah Raye, where participants created a three-dimensional painting of a scene from the book.
Author Rodman Philbrick at Camp Beech Cliff, July 17, 2021 
The events culminated at Camp Beech Cliff with Rodman himself! He told tales of growing up with four brothers, one of whom actually did catch a 900 pound tuna! He gave some insights on being a writer and shared how much practice and perseverance are required. His advice to young writers is, “to really pay attention to the world and to listen to people.” He signed participants’ copies, and several of his other popular titles were for sale. One child bought a book to get signed for her teacher, while another said he couldn’t wait to get home to start reading it again!