The Cat's Table
Michael Ondaatje
 The central character and narrator named Michael, an unaccompanied 11 year old boy, boards an ocean liner, the Oronsay, in Colombo enroute to England via the Suez canal and the Mediterranean. For meals on board Michael is sat at the "cat's table" (the one furthest from the Captain's table) with other boys Ramadhin and Cassius and other misfit characters. The book follows the adventures of Michael and these boys while they are aboard the Oronsay, and Michael's later perspective as an older man looking back on this boyhood voyage.