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The Water Is Wide The Water Is Wide is based on a teacher named Pat Convoy that goes to a poor island called Yamaha to help little kids become more educated. Pat struggles with communicating with the islanders and adjusting to their lifestyle. At the age of 21, Convoy graduated from the Citadel, a military collage close to his hometown Barefoot, S. C. Convoy applied to the Peace Corps and after no response, he talked to Breakout’s schools and requested a teaching assignment on Yamaha Island. Yamaha lies off the coast of South Carolina right next to Savannah.
The only transportation to the isolated island is by boat. The people here have inhabited Yamaha and count on the sea and the oysters for a living. When Convoy went to Yamaha, he found a lot of troubles. A local factory in Savannah contaminated all the oysters and drove everyone off the island. The remaining locals are struggling with Jobs and shelter. Convoy’s first days at Yamaha he saw the spirits of his students but also found them labeled by the teachers who educated them. Mrs…. Brown, the only other teacher at the school, was very strict and didn’t believe in any of the students.
She beat the children with belts, and continuously called them “retarded”. But Convoy refuses to control or beat his students. He rather teach his students with experience and guest from the mainland. At the end of the year, the school holds a graduation ceremony for all the kids. A little after that, Pat gets laid off from the teaching position because he was late to many times. He loved teaching at Yamaha and loved all the students. I personally really liked the book overall. It was very interesting reading his Journey to help these kids get the education they needed.