Iron Thunder by Avi

Subtitled The Battle Between the Monitor and the Merrimac, Iron Thunder creates a fictional character, Tom Carroll, out of several who actually worked on the first iron-clad ship. The story starts with young Tom, who goes to work in the shipyard after his father is killed early in the Civil War. He runs errands for the designer of the boat and is approached by a rebel spy to reveal secrets of the ships design. When the Monitor sailed, Tom went with it, and he describes barely surviving a storm at sea while sailing to Chesapeake Bay (the majority of the ship was below water, only 18" of it and the turret were above water). Then onto the great battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac, the south's iron clad ship. The book is full of actual illustrations of the time and details of the ship and how it was designed. There is also a glossary and a historical note. Sure to interest boys and Civil War fans. Iron Thunder: The Battle Between the Monitor & the Merimac by Avi. Illustrations by C. B. Morgan. Hyperion Books for Children, 2007.