Author Iain Lawrence has earned numerous accolades from publications such as Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal for his exciting tales of high seas adventure. Picking up where The Cannibals left off, The Castaways finds Tom Tin and four other convicts drifting on the ocean when they come upon an empty ship. Shortly after, they also encounter two men who appear to be refugees from the abandoned vessel. But these two are not what they seem, and they become an obstacle for Tom as he travels home.