The Cat’s Table by Michael Ondaatje 

The Cat’s Table is a coming of age story of Michael, an 11 year old boy who takes an ocean liner from Sri Lanka to England unaccompanied. Michael and other boys eat their meals at the ‘cat’s table’ (the one furthest from the Captain’s table). The book follows Michael’s adventures as well as his later perspective as an older man remembering his boyhood voyage. 

 At the Library