Life Inside the Merchant Marine Academy (High Interest Books: Insider's Look (Hardcover))

Rating:
Summary: Age-appropriate introduction to a school that can use it
Review: The purpose of America's four other federal service academies is fairly easy to understand: Want to be an Air Force officer? Go to the Air Force Academy. But what exactly does the Merchant Marine Academy do, and why would you want to go there? These answers are not so intuitive ... even assuming a young person has heard of the USMMA in the first place, which can't always be taken for granted.

There aren't very many books in print about the US Merchant Marine Academy, and fewer still that make a case for why a young person might want to attend. Given that gap, it's a good thing that this brief book is as comprehensive as it is. It provides a decent overview of the Merchant Marine as a career, the peculiar demands of life at Kings Point, and what a graduate's opportunities and obligations are. If this book doesn't answer every conceivable question, at least it should help a student considering a career in uniform or at sea decide whether the USMMA is an option to consider.

This book isn't perfect, however. It continues the series' habit of generic stock photography, misinformed captions, and the occasional questionable assertion. My favorite is the photo on page 38, where the caption reads, "USMMA graduates often work on Coast Guard cutters, such as this one, off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada." Apart from the errant second comma, which suggests grads are uniquely called to cutters off the coast of Newfoundland, the reason the particular cutter in the photo is off the coast of Canada is that it clearly and unmistakably belongs to the *Canadian* Coast Guard -- with a Canadian flag, a maple leaf on the stack, and even the word "Canada" painted on the hull. Which isn't to say that no USMMA grad has ever served in the Canadian Coast Guard (have any?), but surely not "often."

Apart from those occasional slips, however, I have to admit to being surprised by how thorough this title was, relative to some of the other ones in the series. A young reader who picks this up should come away from it with a pretty clear idea of whether the USMMA is something she might be interested in investigating further. And as an introductory resource, that's not a bad start.