A Full Hand — Thomas F. Yezerski

A boy's initiation into old-time canal transport

Asa doesn't know what to expect when his mother tells him it's time he made his first full hand. After all, he's only nine years old. But his father needs some help. He carries coal on his boat along the canal all the way across New Jersey, and he needs Asa to drive the two mules who pull the boat. While leading the mules along their route, Asa learns about loading at the coal chutes and the mechanisms of locks, aqueducts, and inclined planes. Finally, when a violent storm threatens the mission, Asa finds out what it really means to make a full hand.

Set against a backdrop of luminous illustrations, fascinating information about old-time canal freighting is seamlessly woven into this warm and exciting father-and-son story.