Display: Books ARRRR Treasures

Real Pirates: The Untold Story of the Whydah From Slave Ship to Pirate Ship

By: Barry Clifford

The story of the slave ship, Whydah, captured by pirates and later sunk in a fierce storm off the coast of Massachusetts.

Pirate Queen: A Story of Zheng Yi Sao

By: Helaine Becker

Illustrated by: Liz Wong

The most powerful pirate in history was a woman who was born into poverty in Guangzhou, China, in the late 1700's. When pirates attacked her town and the captain took a liking to her, she saw a way out. Zheng Yi Sao agreed to marry him only if she got an equal share of his business. When her husband died six years later, she took command of the fleet. Over the next decade, the pirate queen built a fleet of over 1,800 ships and 70,000 men. On land and sea, Zheng Yi Sao's power rivaled the emperor himself.

Are Pirates Polite?

By: Corinne Demas

Illustrated by: David Catrow

In rhyming text, this story demonstrates that even pirates can be polite, and say "please" and "thank you."

Pirate Secrets Revealed

By: Anna Claybourne

Describes the life of pirates. Come aboard and explore the terrors of the sea from capturing ships full of treasure to escaping from sharks, wearing wooden legs, and sleeping with rats and fleas. Find out what pirates ate and how they smelled, too.

How to be a Pirate

By: Isaac Fitzgerald

Illustrated by: Brigette Barrager

Told by the neighborhood boys that she cannot be a pirate, Cece seeks reassurance from her grandfather who knows about boats and has tattoos.

The Word Pirates

By: Susan Cooper

Illustrated by: Steven Kellogg

When word-eating Captain Rottingbones and his crew steal from the Word Wizard while she is telling a story, her pen proves mightier than the pirates' swords.

Comments

Funny Farm by Mark Teague 2009

There are things I liked about Mark Teague's newest book, Funny Farm , and things I didn't like. Where should I start? I'll do the "didn'ts" first. The illustrations show animals personified. Well, some of the animals are. The main characters, Edward, and his farm family relatives, all dogs, are humanized. They stand upright, do farm chores, eat at a table, wear clothes, knit (yes, with paws) and sleep in beds. Most everybody else on and around the farm, who are also animals, act like animals. They are outside, roll in mud, live in the barn, and require care from their owners. It struck me the most on the page spread where there are pigs playing in puddle in the rain and Edward, a black and white boxer, watches from inside the house. I thought "You're a dog! Go play with them!" But, alas, he can't, seeing as how he goes through his entire visit to the farm wearing a suit and red bow tie. Another picture that bothered me was the maple syrup pa...

The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester 2008

J Fiction 328 pages I almost didn't finish this book. I got to Chapter 4, and was just about ready to quit (a kind of slow story about a girl, name of Piper McCloud, who discovers she can fly, parents freak out, she becomes a social outcast, yadda, yadda) but suddenly, right there in Chapter 4, the story takes a sharp turn and becomes really interesting . Piper finds herself in the company of others like her, but not "fliers", and under the care and authority of Dr. Hellion. I won't even tell you any more. Read this book. Forester does a great job of keeping you wondering who's the good guy and who's the bad? Piper is a likeable, strong, endearing character that girl readers will enjoy. But don't NOT give it to boys! The main male character is an extremely intelligent young man who is one of the ones you wonder about . . . good or bad? This is a good one, well worth your time.

Review: The Factory

The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages. Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...

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