The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle is told in the first person by the character Charlotte Doyle. The advantages of having her tell her own story include having a youthful voice speak to the novel's young audience and providing a sense of discovery as the plot advances. Charlotte is as unfamiliar with sailing ships as the novel's audience is likely to be, and this provides a good reason for her to explain the different parts of the ship as she encounters them.

Thus, readers are kept in the light on the different aspects of the ship and shipboard life in a manner that seems natural and unobtrusive. On the other hand, the use of Charlotte as narrator mutes some of the novel's suspense. From the beginning, it is clear that Charlotte is looking back on events in her past. Therefore, when, for example, she is climbing...