It is the dawn of the eighteenth century, when girls stay home and sew while men sail the high seas finding adventure, danger, and gold. But two unusually adventurous girls--a rich merchant's daughter, Nancy Kington, and her former plantation slave, Minerva Sharpe--take to the high seas from Jamaica on a shop the crew renames Deliverance. Not just any trading ship, the Deliverance flies black flags from its mast, proclaiming to all that the newly named, hijacked ship is a pirate vessel, striking fear into the hearts of those she approaches. Or so they hope. For Nancy, the Deliverance is her escape from an arranged betrothal to a controlling and devilish man. For Minerva, it is an 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 bold and daring pirates, is an opportunity neither can deny. A powerful, thrilling, and ultimately inspiring journey of two women who break the bonds of gender, race, and position to find their own way to glory.
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"This is a great adventure book for adolescent fiction. Would recommend it to my students and my daughters. It is carefully researched and presents the moral dilemmas of what we take for granted in our everyday lives, which come at the hands of injustice and pain inflicted in the lives of others. While this theme is briefly touched upon in the story, it is a good introduction for young readers."
— Debbie (4 out of 5 stars)
" Brilliant book for child and teenage lovers of historical fiction and/or pirates. Gives a good insight to the less-obvious who were involved in the slave trade, also picks up on my local area's history too. Very glad I picked this up. Wish to read another Celia Rees novel in the near future. "
— Hayley, 2/20/2014" Actually a "young-adult" book but a good one...very fast read. Loved it! "
— Regina, 2/14/2014" Altogether an interesting tale, but I was let down by the ending. "
— Rebecca, 2/5/2014" The book was ok, but the narrator, Nancy, was too timid without enough internal dialogue too make her more interesting. To some extent I would compare her to Bella from the Twilight series. She's not a bad person, she's just not interesting enough to carry a book on her own. Unlike Twilight, Pirates! didn't give enough excitement to ever get me wanting more. For girls looking for an adventure book on the high seas, I'd recommend skipping this in favor of the Jacky Faber series by L. A. Meyer. "
— Shawna, 1/25/2014" A great story of sisterhood and adventure - a young plantation owner escapes an unhappy future and becomes a pirate. "
— CAO, 1/23/2014" I love this book! I first listened to it on cd and fell in love. It is a wonderful story about adventure and becoming a women. I could read this book over and over again and still find something new about it every time. It is amazing. "
— Maddie, 1/21/2014" Awesome book full of girl power and action! I loved this book because it had a little slice of everything! I found it so interesting how many twists the author ties in. "
— Dana, 1/21/2014" Heart -warming, mysterious, and action packed book! Wonderuful, i loved it "
— Aiyanna, 1/20/2014" this book is amazing, it's adventerous and justice is served at the end...kinda bloodily but still ...u should definitly read it!!! "
— Beka, 1/14/2014" I leaned a lot about pirate times. The story of a young girl with few options after her father dies and she is "sold" to an evil guy for marriage in order to save the family estate. She opts for stealing away with pirates. The kindle edition have SO MANY typos it was rather distracting. "
— Kkeyes, 1/12/2014" We just read this for book club. It's easy to read and interesting. "
— Wendy, 12/26/2013" i remember buying this at an airport on a whim. in the end i loved the book... it is fun and witty and an enjoyable read. "
— Sadie, 12/5/2013" Pirates! is the tale of a rich merchant's daughter who joins the account (becomes a pirate) to save herself from terrible circumstances. She faces danger at every turn, has great adventures, and learns valuable lessons about family and loyalty. "
— Jasmine, 7/6/2013" Not only is it a great book but if you spin it and look at the cover theres this wierd redish dot.... or at least there was when I was spinning it, and no it doesnt matter why i was spinning my book.... "
— Gabriela, 5/5/2013" It was good and I liked it but it is not as good as the bloody jack series,jacky Faber is just to awesome "
— Elizabeth, 3/6/2013" I read this as a teenager and it was one of the books that got me hooked on reading - its brilliant! "
— Emily, 12/18/2012" Great book! Showed how many pirates didn't set out to be, but were captured and forced to sign on. Also gives a scary look at slavery on sugar plantations. "
— Jen, 6/9/2012" Female pirates, an author who seems to have actually done her historical research, swashbuckling action, some mysticism and a bad guy that gives you the creeps: what more can you ask for? "
— NTE, 2/19/2012" This one just didn't hold my interest like the other books by this same author did. Great character development, but the plot just seemed to drag in too many spots. "
— Trisha, 12/26/2011" I like Celia Rees and have read several of her books. This book is an easy read but, it leaves you hanging in the end. The love interest through out the whole book doesn't have a conclusion nor does the fate of her brothers after the family is bankrupt after losing all of their ships in a storm. "
— Sandie, 12/8/2011" This book was interesting, but some parts of it dragged. It was hisortically very interesting. "
— Carol, 8/4/2011" Thought it a clever book that enthused both male and female teens "
— Fons, 7/19/2011" Exciting and adventurous plot, lots of suspense, a few twists, authentically detailed setting, dynamic characters with mysterious pasts. I learned so much about the time period, the Caribbean, and pirate history. Loved it! "
— Brook, 7/5/2011" I loved this book I thought it was really gripping and the pace went fast which was good. I would definitely recommend to a friend "
— Lydia999, 6/29/2011" This was one of the first books I ever read with pirates in it! And to be honest it was the start of many pirate books. I was hoping Celia would come out with a sequel. BUT This book was amazing. Perfect for any age! "
— Cecilia, 6/25/2011" It had a good plot, but not enough character/relationship development. The characters seemed flat, puppet-like, and rather uninteresting. <br/> "
— Michelle, 6/22/2011" For Age of Sail fans who would like a female protagonist. "
— April, 6/19/2011" The idea of the book was really interesting. I was expecting there to be more of a love story and it wasn't. I was left wanting more resolution and didn't get any. "
— Kristen, 6/17/2011" This book was a great read! "
— Donna, 6/16/2011" I heard this book on audiotape, which was good because it was a bit hard to understand for a nine-year-old. It was really gross in some parts, which made it seem more realistic. More for teenagers, though. "
— Rowan, 6/15/2011" I read this as a teenager and it was one of the books that got me hooked on reading - its brilliant! "
— Emily, 6/11/2011" Thought it a clever book that enthused both male and female teens "
— Fons, 5/16/2011" This book just didn't do it for me, it never really cared for any of the characters. I knew I should care and I have read this author before and enjoyed her books. But this book just didn't work for me. "
— Caitlin, 3/31/2011Celia Rees is the author of many books for young readers, including bestsellers Witch Child and Sorceress. Her first book was published in 1993, a thriller for teenagers. She now divides her time between writing, talking to readers in schools and libraries, and teaching creative writing. She gets her inspiration from the world around her: newspaper stories, people she meets, places she visits. Rees lives in Leamington Spa, England, with her husband and teenage daughter.
Jennifer Wiltsie is an actress and Earphones Award–winning narrator. Her films include Wendigo, Uninvited, and The Fever. She has guest starred on HBO’s The Sopranos and Masterpiece Theatre’s Clarissa. On Broadway she has performed with Matthew Broderick in Night Must Fall, and her off-Broadway credits include Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra. In London’s West-End, she starred in Alan Ayckbourn’s revival of Absurd Person Singular.