Call It Courage

Call It Courage (published as The Boy Who Was Afraid in the United Kingdom) is a book in English written and illustrated by Armstrong Sperry that won the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature in 1941. Call It Courage is a coming of age story set in the Pacific Islands. It chronicles the journey of Mafatu, the son of the chief of Hikueru Island. Mafatu is afraid of the sea due to witnessing his mother drown as a young chil... more

Call It Courage (published as The Boy Who Was Afraid in the United Kingdom) is a book in English written and illustrated by Armstrong Sperry that won the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature in 1941. Call It Courage is a coming of age story set in the Pacific Islands. It chronicles the journey of Mafatu, the son of the chief of Hikueru Island. Mafatu is afraid of the sea due to witnessing his mother drown as a young child, which makes him a shame to his father, and a coward among his tribe. One night Mafatu takes a dugout canoe and sets sail into the ocean without knowing where he will end up. He is caught in a storm and the canoe is lost. He lands on a deserted island and learns to hunt and fish for himself, along with his companion Uri, a yellow dog, and Kivi, an albatross. Soon Mafatu finds a sacrificial altar built by cannibals from a neighboring island. Mafatu realizes his days on the island are numbered and he begins designing his escape by making a... less