April's Book Pick earns every letter of its decidedly long name--THE VERY NEARLY HONORABLE LEAGUE OF PIRATES: MAGIC MARKS THE SPOT, by Caroline Carlson. This extremely pleasing first book in a series employs piratical hijinks, and just a touch of magic, to neatly save the day.
It features prospective High Society young lady Hilary Westfield, daughter of Admiral Westfield of the Royal Navy. Hilary wants nothing more than to be a pirate, a scourge of the seas but, instead, her condescending father sends her to finishing school. Luckily, she brings along her very amusing and magical talking gargoyle, to say nothing of her (ex) governess, and it isn't long before Hilary escapes Miss Pimm's to join a band of pirates hunting for the kingdom's long-lost magical treasure.
The story is introduced with a series of letters explaining Hilary's love of all things piratical, and further correspondence among characters breaks in at strategic times to advance the narrative. The Voice is pitch-perfect--amusing, engaging, and sweetly sarcastic in just the right way for its intended MG audience. And the ending comes to a nice conclusion, while leaving a number of threads to be picked up in upcoming books in the series.
In my experience, the overwhelming response to this one by young readers has been positive--the ones I have recommended it to have all loved it and passed it along with recommendations of their own.
A rollicking, mid-grade comedy of manners featuring pirates--this one is not to be missed!!
--Lynn
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