Blood Alley

First published in 1955 and set a few years after the Communist takeover of China, this highly readable adventure yarn from Fleischman (1920–2010) follows skipper Tom Wilder as he attempts to relocate an entire fishing village from Communist China to freedom in Hong Kong. After a year in Communist prisons, the seaman is unexpectedly sprung by village headman Tso Ta-Tan, who asks that he captain all 180 village residents and their livestock and family shrines through the deadly blood alley of islands and reefs that separate mainland China from Hong Kong. Dismayed when he learns that a flat-bottomed paddle wheel steamer built for river traffic will be his vessel, Wilder desperately tries to talk Tso and the village elders out of the idea. Cathy Grainger, daughter of a visiting English physician, persuades him to take the helm of the unseaworthy craft. The expected romance blossoms between Tom and Cathy, but the obstacles Fleischman conjures up for the fugitives are what keep the pages briskly turning. From storms, mutiny, and Communist gunboats, the author never repeats a scenario, yet manages to top himself with each watery hurdle. Not just fans of the John Wayne movie made from the book will want to check it out. (Aug.)