Lieutenant Christopher

Details: By William P. Mack

1775

Eighteen-year-old Matthew Christopher leaves his father's Annapolis shipyard for a warship in this straightforward historical sea adventure. Christopher's swashbuckling days begin in 1775 under the command of Captain Nicholas Biddle of the Continental Navy, but he soon comes to the attention of John Paul Jones and serves as his aide on the frigate Ranger. After a brief, happy retirement with his new wife and baby son, Christopher fights alongside Jones again, this time aboard the Bonhomme Richard (where he gets to hear Jones announce "I have not yet begun to fight").