Customer Reviews

Booty: Girl Pirates on the High Seas

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I couldn't ask for more: a lighthearted yet informative look at female pirates, suitable for children and adults alike. This book proves that women's history doesn't have to be shrill and defensive.

As kids, many of us daydreamed of running away and becoming pirates, girls too. But, in the days when Jolly Rogers flew, were there pirate women? In her lively debut work, author Sara Lorimer answers yes, there were and "these women were real pirates who led lives just as adventurous and colorful as the male counterparts." Lorimer's well-researched book, which cites from a wide array of sources including a book of Danish history dating from the thirteenth century, relates both facts and lore from the lives of eleven pirate women including the famous Mary Read and Anne Bonny and lesser knowns such as Rachel Wall. Humor and wit pervade each chapter's recounting. With the added pleasure of Susan Synarski's illustrations, BOOTY pays off as a reader's ticket to escape to the high seas.

This book is a lot of fun, on a subject that doesn't get as much attention as it should. Piracy is a good career for a girl, too! For a terrific adult book on the subject, I would also recomend The Sweet Trade by Elizabeth Garrett.

This book is a smart read for femmes of all ages and genders, and the illustrations are too, too fabulous! The cover art alone is worth the price.

I loved this book and read it a few hours. It gives a very quick biography or a dozen or so female pirates throughout history, accompanied with some great, colorful illustrations. I really like the pictures. It is not a serious or scholary book on the subject, but rather a fun and campy look at a bit of history. I'm not so sure how accurate the accounts are, but it is an entertaining read none the less. I would recommend this book for highschoolers as a way to introduce them to and spark some interest in interesting characters from the past. The author includes a list of further reading at the end of the book if you find your are further interested in reading up on pirates.

Yarr! (That's arrgh with a Y). This is very hip and quirky coffee table, bathroom, etc. reading. Great stories and drawings, playful and informative. My mom and sister loved it as a present.

As kids, many of us daydreamed of running away and becoming pirates, girls too. But, in the days when Jolly Rogers flew, were there pirate women? In her debut work, author Sara Lorimer answers yes, there were and "these women were real pirates who led lives just as adventurous and colorful as the male counterparts." Lorimer's well-researched book, which cites from a wide variety of sources like a work Danish history dating from the thirteenth century, relates both facts and lore from the lives of eleven pirate women including the famous Mary Read and Anne Bonny and lesser knowns such as Rachel Wall. Humor and wit pervade each chapter's recounting. With the added pleasure of Susan Synarski's illustrations, BOOTY pays off as a reader's ticket to escape to the high seas.

This is a fun collection of stories about women pirates and what their lives were like. Some of them I already knew about, but the additional information on how they lived and what life was like was very interesting.

Life wasn't easy for women, their options were limited and they had to make the best of their situations.

The descriptions of life for these women are pretty graphic, including dealing with bodily functions, so it probably wouldn't be appropriate for younger kids.

I just started reading this book and it is a fun subject with charming illustrations. Unfortunately I was driven to write this review by the jarring sentence structures and overuse of commas. After pausing for the 5th or 6th time to reread a sentence, I realized that the text desperately needs a decent editor. Here is one example of many:

The gang borrowed, and never returned, a sloop from a harbor in Essex, and decided to work the area of the Isles of Shoals, a group of small islands off the coast of Maine rumored to have once been a hideout for Blackbeard.

With a slight bit of thought this could easily be rewritten as:

The gang borrowed, and never returned, a sloop from a harbor in Essex. They decided to work the Isles of Shoals, a group of small islands off the coast of Maine. This was a perfect pirate location because it was rumored to have once been a hideout for Blackbeard.

So be forewarned, you may be wishing for a swift end on a short rope if you are troubled by tortuous grammar.

The title, including the word "girl" and the artwork led me to think this would be a great present for my eleven-year-old granddaughter who lives in Australia. I got the book home and began reading. The word "prostituion" appeared in chapters one and two. A later chapter discussed the girl pirates as having "sexual relations" aboard ship. I'm not a blue stocking, but I didn't know if my granddaughter's mom was ready for the questions that might ensue. I gave the book to my 45-year-old daughter and bought puppets to send to the granddaughter and her younger brothers in Australia.