Title:
Arrgh!
Author:
Stacey R. Campbell
Illustrator: M.S. Corley
Date of
Release: Nov. 1, 2014)
Genre:
Middle Grade / Adventure
Publisher:
Green Darner Press (November 1, 2014)
ISBN-13:
978-0988478442
(282 pages)
ASIN: B00MX7ATRM
Author
Website: http://www.staceyrcampbell.com
Reviewed by Marlan Warren originally for L.A. Now and Then
"Arrgh!" is a true treasure: Five not-easy lessons on
the high seas. Stacey R. Campbell's Kidnapped-by-Pirates tale is greater than
the sum of its title.
This Coming
of Age Voyage takes off like a cannon blast when a runaway orphan finds himself
forced onto a cargo ship by pirates posing as merchant seamen, and gathers
momentum with inventive action until its gratifying
conclusion.
Thirteen-year-old Christopher has escaped from an orphanage to search for
family members. Ironically, he is nabbed off the street by two pirate thugs who
pass him off to the ship's captain as a relative. Threatened with death if he
does not pretend to be mute, Christopher enters a world of repressed
silence—broken only during moments when he can communicate with Leo the
Attack-for-Hire Mouse who comes to his assistance as a kind of life coach. The
trained and certified Leo sets about teaching the timid youth Five Life Lessons.
Campbell
deftly melds fantasy with reality; excitement with education; and classical
storytelling with contemporary sensibility that honors Friendship, Family and
Literacy.
As in
"Peter Pan," there is a line
between non-adult and adult perceptions and abilities. When Christopher is
befriended by the Captain's twelve-year-old daughter Lucy, it turns out that she
can also understand the talking animals who come their way because she is not an
adult. And when the duo find themselves stranded on an island, they revel in it
as a paradise where they can do whatever they want without adult
interference.
In a world
where many are illiterate, Lucy begins to crack the mystery of Christopher when
she sees him reading books from her father’s library.
Herein lie
the expected dark moments and violence of the genre. However, Christopher and
Lucy achieve their victories through The Power of the Plan—hopping from plan to
plan as their fates shift.
The biggest
lesson comes to Christopher when he must stay on the island without Lucy, and
subdue the pirates with only the assistance of animal helpers. He comes out of
it with this newfound truth: "I was never alone."
Young
readers will be enthralled by the vivid imagery that makes up the swashbuckling
action sequences, as well as the evocative sights and smells of this time
period. A Glossary of Nautical Terms opens the book. Lessons include such
vintage practical gems as how to manage a galleon in a storm. M.S. Corley's
beautiful vintage-style illustrations would be at home in the earliest editions
of any classic pirate tale.
How does it
end? Here's a hint: Lesson Number Five brought tears to my
eyes.
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Learn more about the review Marlan Warren at Roadmap Girl's Book Buzz
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