Magic Marks the Spot: The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates #1 by Caroline Carlson
Pirates! Magic! Treasure! A gargoyle? Caroline Carlson’s hilarious tween novel The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates #1: Magic Marks the Spot is perfect for fans of Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events and Trenton Lee Stewart’s Mysterious Benedict Society.
Hilary Westfield has always dreamed of being a pirate. She can tread water for thirty-seven minutes. She can tie a knot faster than a fleet of sailors, and she already owns a rather pointy sword.
There’s only one problem: The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates refuses to let any girl join their ranks of scourges and scallywags.
But Hilary is not the kind of girl to take no for answer. To escape a life of petticoats and politeness at her stuffy finishing school, Hilary sets out in search of her own seaworthy adventure, where she gets swept up in a madcap quest involving a map without an X, a magical treasure that likely doesn’t exist, a talking gargoyle, a crew of misfit scallywags, and the most treacherous—and unexpected—villain on the High Seas.
Written with uproarious wit and an inviting storyteller tone, the first book in Caroline Carlson’s quirky seafaring series is a piratical tale like no other.
Pirates! Magic! Treasure! AND a gargoyle?! Psh. THIS SOUNDS SO AWESOME I CAN’T EVEN. First of all, any time there is even the HINT of pirates in a book, I’m immediately in. Second of all, look at all the other equally excellent stuff in this book! Historical fiction where a young girl wants to ditch her fancy dresses to join a gang of pirates, whereupon she also encounters magic, a treasure map and A FREAKING QUEST? Yup.
A MG/young YA historical fiction with pirates is something we need more of in the world. Also, I’m really looking forward to meeting Hilary. She sounds confident and determined and just the little bit of description we get of her is putting me in mind of one of the great, strong girl characters I’ve recently read, Deryn Sharpe from Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan series. Granted, I don’t think Hilary has to dress up like a boy the way Deryn did, but still. The comparison is a BIG compliment, and it sounds worthy.
MAGIC MARKS THE SPOT comes out on September 10, 2013 from HarperCollins Children’s Books
Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. I love it because it is basically a squee-fest where book lovers can choose one book that they are DYING to get their hands on. Check it out!
