An informative and entertaining true-life travel adventure. Although the theory has been discarded nowadays, the author agrees that it only proved that its possible to travel from Peru to Polynesia on a raft. It's a fantastic adventure, I'd truly recommend it for all armchair travelers.

One of the great adventure stories of the 20th century. Highly recommended for anyone who likes the classic man v nature showdown, with historical information on the South Pacific peoples and customs thrown in for good measure. Don't miss this book.

Minus some of the post-WWII legacies in the book, including descriptive racism when referring to native people and a few wasteful environmental moments, the story is impressive. Six men set off on a raft for an incredible journey over thousands of miles, just to prove it can be done. From encounters with Whale Sharks to riding out tropical storms, they entered a marine world few of us have experienced.

I read this because it is on the curriculum for my district. It’s a good adventure story. The reason they go on the voyage is intriguing and it’s amazing that they survived for so long on a raft in the pacific.

I liked the set up of the voyage and the chapters they get ready to go. The chapters about traveling in the raft are interesting but less so. They did give some interesting context to the fictional survival story in Life of Pi.

Overall I enjoyed reading this book. I rated only three stars because I was reading to assess if it would be good to teach to 9th graders. Overall - no there are better books that will inspire and hold the attention of young readers. I did pull compelling passages if I’m forced to use it in the future because there are good sections.

Nine long balsa logs;
Six white wreaths lay alone there;
One genome doubtful.