Salena Wold

Professor Warner

English 112B

May 10, 2006

Annotated Bibliography

Pirates and Other Historic Nautical Adventures

I have always been interested in history. When I was growing up I would check out all of the books at the library in the historical fiction section. I especially loved reading biographies depicting the childhoods of famous historical figures. These books showed me that I too could become someone famous, since our childhoods were very similar even if their childhood took place one or two hundred years before mine. This love of history continued into my teenage years. There my interests also expanded to include adventure novels as well. My two interest come together very well in books about pirates. They include the history of centuries past along with the adventure of sailing the sea looking for merchant ships to run down and plunder.

By choosing a pirate/ nautical theme I hope to provide a list of interesting, adventurous books that young adult readers will enjoy reading. As Literature for Today�s Young Adults states �reading historical novels satisfies our curiosity about other times, places, and people, and even more important, it provides adventure, suspense, and mystery� (225). Therefore I included fiction, non-fiction and movies in hopes of appealing to the widest audience.

Fiction

Lawrence, Iain. The Wreckers. New York: Delacorte Press, 1998.

This is an ALA Best Book for Young Adults (BBYA) from 1999. It is the story of the adventures of fourteen year old John Spencer set in 1799. While he is on his first sea voyage with his father their boat wrecks off the coast of the England�s Cornwall coast. They were lured to the coast during a vicious storm by lights and the promise of safe harbor. Instead their ship The Isle of Skye was crushed upon the rocks. The inhabitants of the area were scavengers that prayed for shipwrecks so they could feed and clothe themselves with the loot salvaged from the wreckage. John Spencer survives the shipwreck, but will he be able to escape from the wreckers?

This is a great fast paced book for unenthusiastic young adult readers, as shown by being on the Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers list put out by the American Library Association. It is a

Lawrence, Iain. The Smugglers. New York: Dell Yearling, 1999.

In this companion to The Wreckers (1998), Lawrence provides more adventures on the high seas. When John Spencer's father buys the mysterious black schooner, the Dragon, the 16-year-old boy is excited until he learns that he must make the ship's maiden voyage without his father. Among the bad omens: Mr. Spencer survives a shooting, and later, the captain they've hired is killed. Mr. Spencer is convinced that their affairs are looking better when he hires the colorful Captain Crowe to assume command of the vessel. No sooner does the schooner sail out of harbor than Crowe changes course unexpectedly, claiming that he has new orders. Crowe, of course, is a pirate, as are the scalawags he's hired, and in no time, John is trapped with the scurrilous crew. When it seems that John will be fed to the fish by Crowe, he escapes and lives to see the cur hanged on his beloved Dragon. The storytelling is broad but the details are fine: Lawrence has packed his tale full of vivid descriptions that are swarming with historical detail, painting as honest a picture of piracy as readers are likely to encounter.

Taken from: www.kirkusreviews.com

Lawrence, Iain. The Buccaneers. New York: Delacorte Press, 1998.

Lawrence's conclusion to the High Seas trilogy opens as John Spencer, now 17 and a seasoned sailor, takes his shift steering the Dragon (purchased by his father in The Smugglers) and spots a lifeboat. On their way from England to the Indies carrying a cargo of wool, the Dragon's crew members get their first taste of impending danger after they rescue from the lifeboat a stranger whose mysterious history connects him to a crew massacred by a band of pirates led by the malicious Captain Bartholomew Grace. As fate would have it, the Dragon ends up playing a deadly game of cat and mouse with Grace's vessel, the Apostle. Tension mounts after the Dragon's captain is stricken with fever and it is up to John to steer his boat home to safety. This high-seas tale set in the 19th century offers plenty of full-blooded salty characters, cunning dialogue, surprises around every corner and a classic battle between good and evil. The author's first-hand knowledge of sailing and skill at building suspense will keep readers riveted from first page to last.

Taken from: www.publishersweekly.com.

Meyer, L.A. Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary �Jacky� Faber, Ship�s Boy. New York: Harcourt Inc., 2002.

This is an action packed novel. It begins with Mary Faber watching her family die of the plague. She is left alone to live a life on the streets stealing and begging for food along with a gang of other orphans for protection. When Charlie, the leader of the orphan gang is murdered, Mary takes his clothes and disguises herself as a boy, calls herself Jacky Faber, and signs on as a ship's boy on the Dolphin, a Royal Navy frigate. In addition to dealing with the challenges of learning how to do her job and stay out of trouble, she must hide the fact that she is a girl while dealing with unexpected changes in her body and her emotions. When she falls in love with one of her shipmates and reveals her secret to him, the two of them have even more to hide. From shooting a pirate in battle to foiling a shipmate's sexual attack to surviving when stranded alone on a Caribbean island, the action in the story will entertain young adults interested in adventure.

Meyer, L.A. Curse of the Blue Tattoo: Being an Account of the Misadventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman and Fine Lady. New York: Harcourt Inc., 2004.

This novel begins where Bloody Jack left off. Jacky Faber is no longer disguised as a ship's boy but is now dressed as a girl. She leaves the Dolphin and goes to her new home, the Lawson Peabody School for Young Girls in Boston. While at school, the head mistress works to transform Jacky into a young lady. Jacky tries to learn, but finds it impossible to conform to an ideal of womanhood that does not include lewd exhibitions of singing and dancing, wearing men's clothes, hanging around with drunkards and prostitutes, and using bad language. Though her boldness puts her in situations dangerous to her safety and her virtue, Jacky manages to bring the complete downfall of a detestable preacher and good fortune to her many friends. The book ends with Jacky leaving Boston on a whaling ship, leaving the reader wanting to find out what will happen next.

Meyer, L.A. Under the Jolly Roger : Being an Account of the Further Nautical Adventures of Jacky. New York: Harcourt Inc., 2005.

This sequel to Bloody Jack and Curse of the Blue Tattoo follows 15-year-old Jacky Faber as she steps off a whaler at Gravesend in 1804 and sets out for London in search of her beloved Jaimy. When the happy reunion she has planned is aborted by a misunderstanding, Jacky takes to the streets in boy's clothing, only to be abducted by a press-gang, sent to sea aboard a British warship, and nearly raped by its captain. The tables turn when she takes control of the ship and has new adventures on the high seas. After finding (and losing) her true love once again, Jacky sets sail for Boston, where her adventures can be expected to continue. Readers will root for resilient Jacky and her memorable friends as she cannily makes the best of even the least-promising situations. A swashbuckling saga with a decidedly unconventional heroine.

Taken form: www.booklistonline.com

Rees, Celia. Pirates! New York: Bloomsbury 2003.

At the dawn of the eighteenth century, when girls stay home and sew, while men sail the high seas finding adventure, danger and gold, two unusual girls, Nancy Kington and Minerva Sharp, one a rich merchant�s daughter, the other her plantation slave, set sail from Jamaica on a ship the crew renames Deliverance. Not just any trading ship, Deliverance flies black flags from its mast and proclaims to all that the new ship is a pirate vessel, striking fear into the hearts of those she approaches. Or so Nancy and Minerva hope.

The Deliverance is Nancy�s escape from an arranged marriage with a controlling and devilish man. For Minerva, it is escape from slavery, as well as from the fearsome overseer on Nancy�s family plantation. But in the end, the money, the adventure, the companionship and the chance to see the world not as women, but as fearsome pirates, is an opportunity neither can deny.

Non-fiction

Johnson, Charles. A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pirates. Guilford, Connecticut: The Lyons Press, 2002.

This is a collection of twenty different biographies of pirates. Pirates included range from Mary Read, Anne Bonny to Captain Kidd. It also gives a brief history of pirate literature and sets the scene for the rest of the book by giving background on pirates including primary source materials. It is a great book to gain information on all of the different pirates.

Meltzer, Milton. Piracy & Plunder: A Murderous Business. New York: Dutton Children�s Books, 2001.

The aim of this book is to tell the true story of pirates and piracy. It goes as far back to references in Homer's Odyssey as well as Viking raiders and other well known pirates such as Blackbeard, Sir Frances Drake and Captain Kidd. The book offers a historical overview of crime on the high seas and explores the roots of what drove men and women to piracy including. Young adults will obtain a realistic and unromanticized view of pirates, understanding the motives behind their cruel acts of violence and greed.

Pirates of the High Seas. Dir. David Cohen. Questar, 2003.

This movie shows the life and times of different pirates. Pirates that are focused on include Blackbeard, Anne Bonny, Mary Read, Sir John Hawkins, Bartholomew Roberts and Captain Kid. It includes both pirates in the Caribbean as well as pirates in Madagascar. It depicts a truthful and less romanticized view of pirates. Young adults interested in history or adventure will enjoy this movie.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Dir. Gore Verbinski. Perf. Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley. Walt Disney Home Entertainment, 2003.

Pirates of the Caribbean an adventure story set in the Caribbean. Will Turner works with pirate Jack Sparrow in order to save Elizabeth after she is kidnapped by pirates lead by Captain Barbossa. Jack works with Will in order to retrieve lost treasure and his ship The Black Pearl.