You may never have 
    heard of a lightship.

Once, lightships 
    anchored on waters
    across America,
    on the oceans
    and in the Great Lakes,
    floating where lighthouses
    could not be built.
    Smaller than most ships,
    but more steadfast, too,
    they held their spots,
    through calm and storm,
    to guide sailors
    toward safe waters.

In these pages
    one lightship
    and her crew (and cat)
    again hold their place.
    The crew goes
    again from bow to stern,
    from keel to mast,
    to run their engines,
    shine their lights,
    and sound their horns.

They run the small ship
    that guides the large ships.
    They are the crew (and cat)
    that work to make the ocean safe,
    that hold their place,
    so other ships can sail. 

                                                    Come aboard!

From the dust jacket