Pirates and Privateers

When Emma Sharpe's parents end up in debtors' prison, she's sent to a London orphanage. Labeled a troublemaker, she befriends a sailor whose stories fill her with dreams of adventure and faraway places. She learns that New Adventure is making ready to depart, so she stows away aboard the vessel.

Hunger drives her to the galley, where the cook takes her to the captain. Seeing something of himself in eleven-year-old Emma, he offers her a choice: work for her passage and join the crew, or disembark at their next port of call. Before long, Emma thrives at sea, first as a powder monkey and then an able seaman. By 1702, when circumstances permit, she sends home money to pay down her parents' debt.

New Adventure is not a typical merchant ship. Her blended crew of men, women, and children share in the profits garnered from each voyage. They also do a bit of smuggling and privateering but never pirating. They form a cohesive unit until Emma stumbles across the sole survivor of a derelict, treasure-laden pirate ship.

Initially, the story unfolds with brief segments of the present interwoven with flashbacks of backstory. Action takes center stage later, especially once Emma happens upon the dying pirate. Geared toward tween readers, this Emma Sharpe Adventure is a story of modern inclusivity set in the past. This isn't historically correct, but it allows readers to better identify with the characters, each of whom has a particular strength. The piratical elements are true to history, and the author includes a glossary and website where teaching resources can be found. The Day the Pirates Went Mad is a good introduction to life at sea and is written in a manner that makes the Age of Sail more interesting to today's young readers.

Learn more about the series

Originally reviewed for Historical Novels Review, February 2022 issue
 

Review Copyright ©2021 Cindy Vallar

Powder monkey Emma Sharpe awakens on a remote island with little memory of the events that brought her here. Part of her ear is missing. Her head is cut. New Adventure is nowhere to be seen. All she recalls is that she and her shipmates were headed to Bermuda to deliver gunpowder and muskets when a French ship attacked.

Also washed ashore is her friend Jack, the cabin boy aboard their ship. He fills in the details that Emma can’t recall or doesn’t know, including that their friends are now prisoners. In pursuit of her dream of captaining her own ship one day, she figures out where they are and what they must do to survive and eventually rescue their friends. Jack’s been learning about medicine, which proves helpful since he sustained a shoulder injury.

As the days pass, they realize they are not the only ones on the island. Someone determined to remain unseen visits at night. Then pirates come ashore and nab Emma and Jack as they attempt to steal a boat. Confident in her skill and knowing it’s the only way off the island, she challenges the captain to a duel. The stakes are high and the pirates are eager for entertainment. As Emma and Jack soon discover, risks abound even when they return to civilization. They reunite with friends . . . and enemies as they travel to New Providence (Bahamas), South Carolina, Saint-Domingue (Haiti), and the Azores.

Set in 1704 during the early years of the War of the Spanish Succession, this is the second book in the Emma Sharpe Adventures. Primarily written for middle graders (8-12 years old), older pirates of all ages will enjoy this historical tale. Even at thirteen, Emma is driven to survive and succeed. This includes having to face moments of weakness in dangerous situations. (In other words, she’s human just like you or me.) Pirate history is woven seamlessly into the story, including a fictional castaway reminiscent of Alexander Selkirk, real life aboard a pirate ship, a lawyer named Cormack (name and profession of Anne Bonny’s father), fireships, and Anne Dieu-le-Veut (a female buccaneer). Woven throughout are themes of vengeance, betrayal, and ingenuity. There’s even a bit of jealous rivalry. Reading the first book in the series, The Day the Pirates Went Mad, isn’t necessary to enjoy this lively adventure, and by story’s end, you’re eager to read Emma’s next one. There is even a hint as to what she may experience woven into Back to the New Adventure.

Visit the series website
(includes teacher resources & games)

Review Copyright ©2026 Cindy Vallar

Home

Pirate Articles

Book Reviews

Pirate Links

Sea Yarns Galore

Thistles & Pirates