Pirates!: The True and Remarkable Adventures of Minerva Sharpe and Nancy Kington, Female Pirates by Celia ReesRees, Celia. Pirates!: The True and Remarkable Adventures of Minerva Sharpe and Nancy Kington, Female Pirates. Bloomsbury, 2003. 379 pages. $16.95. ISBN 1582348162
Plot Summary: Nancy Kington’s life is turned upside down when her father dies and she is sent to Jamaica to live on the family plantation. Not only is she told she is to marry a man she despises but she is heartbroken by they way the slaves are treated. To escape the arranged marriage and the cruelty of the plantation, Nancy and her friend Minerva, a slave, run away. They find themselves on a pirate ship and soon take their roles among the pirates. Minerva seems best adapted to the pirate life, but Nancy is concerned about her true love and childhood friend, now a Navy officer and every pirate’s enemy. As the reader follows the twist and turns, it would seem that Nancy and Minerva are not just connected by their friendship and swashbuckling ways. The story is full of pirate induced gore, chases on the high seas, and a glimpse into the horrors of both piracy and slavery in the eighteenth century.
Critical Evaluation: Rees creates a unique tale in Pirates, with the decision of the characters to flee their horrible circumstances and become pirates. I’ve heard that there were actually female pirates, but never thought about how a woman would get into such a trade. The situations of Nancy and Minerva, before their escape into piracy, were maddening, mostly because I knew that women were treated this way at one point. When the two girls become pirates and create this tough female persona, I was happy for this small victory for women even though I doubt many women of their time were able to escape like they were. The brutal details of both their lives before and after they ran away make this book suitable for older teens. I felt Rees did a great job creating a believable story with the right mixture of adventure, violence, friendship and love.
Reading Level: This book would be best suited for older teens, ages fifteen to eighteen.
Book talk ideas: After reading a selection from the book I would talk about the strong women Nancy and Minerva portray and it isn’t everyday we read about female pirates. I would also discuss realities of the slave trade.
Why it is included: I chose this book because I had read it before and loved it. I loved the idea of two teenage girls leaving their unhappy lives to become pirates. It is also on several best book lists, won the Thumbs Up! Award in 2004, and won several state given awards.
Challenge issues: The graphic nature of several situations in the novel could be controversial. Again, I would argue the truth behind the story and that it is stories like these that make us appreciate where we are today.
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