Rudyard Kipling and Captains Courageous

Cod-fishing, and a summer learning to sail off the Grand Banks, redeems a spoiled brat who fell into the Atlantic off an ocean-going liner at the end of the 19th century. Kipling's story of hard work and the democracy of the sea is a great read about sailing and fishing in the old-fashioned way. It's a record of a lost way of American life, and has a lot to say to modern readers about honesty and the virtues of earning what you receive. Be careful of what's at the end of that fishing line. For those who like fish guts in their tall stories.