McKay successfully blends fact and fiction about her great uncle, Charlie Wilcox. Charlie Wilcox is a Newfoundlander born into a family of sailors and sealers. A clubfoot prevents Charlie from following in the family tradition. When Charlie is in St. John's pursuing a higher education, he makes his way to the harbour and boards a boat that he thinks is a sailing vessel. Fourteen-year-old Charlie does not realize that he has climbed on a boat sailing for Europe with soldiers to fight in World War I! Because Charlie is too young to fight, he becomes a medic. Charlie Wilcox highlights the historical context of Newfoundland before Confederation and the life of a soldier. .

English language arts grade 9 (2009).