Secrets at Sea Analysis

We see glimpses of the Cranstons' home in the Hudson River Valley (in New York) and a sneak peek at Buckingham Palace (in London), but most of this book takes place on board a ship. Since planes ha...

Helena is our main gal in this book, and she's also our storyteller—she tells us what's what and who's who on this ship. And luckily for us, Helena is as nosey as they come. She wants to know eve...

When you've got a book set back in the 1800s, it's most likely historical fiction. Secrets at Sea takes place way back in 1897 and there's a lot in this book that stems straight from that era, so i...

Helena is a talker—she can chat it up with the best of them. As she tells her tale, Helena keeps her tone casual and personal. Just hand that girl a hunk of cheese and a thimble of coffee, and sh...

When it comes to Helena, she's got her eyes on the details—she notices everything on the ship, and she tells us every little tidbit. Right down to the number of mice at dinner. Or the awesomeness...

Since the mice are on a ship for most of this book, we're guessing that the title refers to the Atlantic Ocean. After all, when the mice are at sea, they are on some crazy adventures. But what abou...

Secrets at Sea ends with a big wedding. It's the party of the century for our mice, and it brings our tale a nice bit of closure. From the start of this book our human characters are really concern...

These mice have an adventure on their hands—and that means we have an easygoing read with plenty to keep us entertained. Plus Richard Peck keeps the sentences simple, so that makes this book a br...

Life Behind the WallsThe Cranston mice have a pretty comfortable life in America—they have a sweet crib in the walls of their humans, the Upstairs Cranstons, and they collect the humans' scraps a...

And the Newbery Medal Goes to…Richard Peck. He won the super prestigious Newbery in 2001 for his book A Year Down Yonder.(Source)Lots of Peck's books take place in the Midwest and are based on th...

We've got plenty of romance in this book, but no steaminess, folks. But if you're on the hunt for some steam, we know just where you can find it—head on over to the smokestacks on the ship, and y...

Queen Victoria (6.58-60, 7.16, 7.21, 13.17)Queen's Diamond Jubilee (Chapter 7, Chapter 14, Chapter 16)Princess Louise, Queen Victoria's fourth daughter (7.16, 7.22, 9.52-64, 9.79-82, 10.55-56, 14.2...