Bottles of Eight and Pieces of Rum [Paperback]

Michele Torrey (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up

Kip makes a fool of himself trying to fake a history report on pirates, and he has no hope of salvaging his situation until he discovers that piracy runs in the family. He finds excitement, danger, and a way to even the score with his history teacher.

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About the Author

When Kip fails to prepare an oral report for history and attempts to fake one on piracy at the end of the period, he manages to buy one night to produce a report for the next day. The only clues he has about piracy are the stories hes heard from his sickly, old grandfather.

Now that grandfather is nearing his end, he begs Kip to believe that he has truly lived the tales he told. He had lived in two dimensions, one as an eighteenth-century pirate. The key to returning to the past is in a chest in the attic. He beseeches Kip to make the trip and bring to the present the daughter he left behind many years ago. A family picture moves Kip to believe the old man, and his curiosity takes over as he examines the wondrous items in the chest in the attic. Within seconds of an old bottle being in his hands, Kip is transported to a sea inhabited by pirate ships and is swimming for his life.

Fished out of the sea by the crew of a pirate ship, Kip becomes one of them and learns the pirates code behavior and business in detail. Kip swabs, serves, fights, and watches. But it is just after he rescues Captain Dawes from drowning and administers CPR that he faces great jeopardy. He discovers Captain Dawes is a woman. She would kill to protect her secret.

Kip further discovers Captain Dawes is his aunt, the daughter of his grandfather who he went into the past to bring back. He cannot stop the punishment the crew meets out to him and Captain Dawes, but both finally make it back to the present. And what a show he presents to his class on piracy!

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Kip sighed. Only one more class. History. Then, brief freedom until tomorrow. He sauntered into class, his tennis shoes squeaking on the linoleum, and sat in his usual seat next to Chad Yates, his best friend. Kip unzipped his backpack, withdrew his European history book and plunked it heavily on his desk.

Chad leaned over and whispered, "Hey Kip, you ready?"

"Ready? Ready for what? What are you talking about?"

"The oral report, you moron."

Kip stopped opening his notebook and froze.

Chad's eyes widened. "You didn't do it?" He sat back in his chair, a stunned expression on his face. "Oh my gosh--I can't believe it--you don't have it done--"

"No way, Chad. It's due next Monday. You're just saying that because I beat you Saturday at the swim meet."

"Yes way, Kip. If you don't believe me--look at everybody--can't you just feel the tension?"

Kip looked around. Students sat hunched with eyes wide, staring at white pieces of paper, lips moving silently.

Chad continued, "And get a load of Hacker-Tacker."

Mrs. Tacker sat rigidly behind her desk at the front of the room, her clasped hands resting on her grade book.

Kip groaned. "How come no one told me?"

"Sorry--thought you knew. Good luck."

His hands were already turning clammy and his heart galloped. He slumped in his seat, defeated.

The bell rang.

Mrs. Tacker immediately jumped up, marched to the door, and closed it.

Trapped.

"Today we'll begin our oral reports, five minutes per person, on some aspect of the history of England. Your written reports, remember, are due Wednesday, the day after tomorrow."

Kip checked his watch. 1:51 P.M. Fifty-four minutes of mind-searing torture to go. He calculated the odds on the mini-calculator on his watch. In 54 minutes, there could only be 10 student presentations. There were 26 students. Divide 10 by 26, multiply by 100, and that gave only a 38 percent chance he would be chosen.

Not good enough.

Mrs. Tacker paced the room, hands embraced behind her back. "First and foremost, of course, is content. Secondly, and of almost equal importance, is presentation. How do you present yourself? Are you sloppy? Do you mumble? Do you talk too fast? Remember, it is the image you present that people will remember."

She halted in front of Kip and her gaze descended.

He had no alternative but to look up.

The severity of her presence, he was sure, was meant to strike terror into the hearts of young people.

It worked.

Her dark brown hair, accented by numerous streaks of grey, was pulled into a tight bun. The sharp lines of her face appeared etched out of granite, her flint-grey eyes little pebbles of the same. "Hacker-Tacker" they called her. Student Destroyer. Anyone was fair game, dead meat. Even straight A' students preferred a slow roasting death to enduring her class for a year.

When their eyes met, Kip pushed his shaking limbs to the outer stratosphere, and boldly went where no student had gone before.

He smiled.

The surprise showed in her face, but she quickly masked it. For a moment, Kip felt a flush of victory.

She continued to stare at him, her eyes unblinking. "If any of you are not ready today, it is an automatic F'. I will accept no excuses."

His smiling lips twitched. His knees started to shake. Does she know? Is it that obvious? He blinked twice--couldn't control himself.

"Who would like to be first?"

Deathly silence.

She perched her skinny posterior on the edge of her desk, crossed her arms, and surveyed her animal kingdom. Queen of the Jungle. She pronounced her sentence. "Angela Allen."

A wail of despair erupted from the back of the room.

Kip expelled a great quantity of breath.

1:53 P.M. First victim. Nine divided by 25. Only a 36 percent chance of humiliation and degradation remained.

Not good enough.

Angela strolled to the front of the room. She held a crumpled piece of notebook paper in her hands. Purple ink splotched both sides. She flung her long black hair behind her shoulders, chomped her gum, heaved a great sigh, and began. "My report is on . . ."

"Ms. Allen, please remove your gum."

Angela shrugged and sauntered over to the metal trash can. Ting! She returned to the front of the room.

Mrs. Tacker peered from the edge of her desk over Angela's shoulder.

"My report is on . . ."

"Ms. Allen, can you think of a more imaginative beginning to your report?"

Angela's mouth remained poised for her next word. Then she looked at the class, rolled her eyes, and sighed again.

"Presentation, Ms. Allen, is of foremost importance. Why don't you start your report with your second sentence?"

Angela scanned her purple dotted paper. "Um--Feudal lords, no wait. Um--There were lots of poor people during the Middle Ages."

"Better. Continue."

"They lived on the properties of the Feudal Lords. It was known as the Feudal Lord sys--no wait." She brought the paper to within a few inches of her eyes. "System."

Kip didn't listen anymore. Angela ticked precious time off the clock, and Kip cheered her annoying stupidity. All the better for him. 1:55 P.M.

While Angela stumbled and scraped her way through her purple blotch of history, Kip concentrated on what he could do for his presentation. Kings and queens? No--he'd need to know all kinds of dates. Roman Catholicism? No. Cromwell? He lived . . . when? 1200? 1300? Was he a good guy or a bad guy? Kip didn't know.

His fear continued to mount. He hated history. Who cared about a bunch of dead people anyway? What possible difference could it make in his life?

Angela finished.

Mrs. Tacker scanned the room.

Kip imagined her vision as The Terminator. Computerized information flashed on her eyeball screen: SCAN MODE LEVEL 43545. ASSESS STUDENT PREPAREDNESS.

Her digitized eyeballs outlined and analyzed each student. She scanned Kip.

Kip held his breath. Please no.

VISUAL - MALE HT -0509, WT 0155. MESOMORPH. MATCH PROBABILITY 99%. PROCEED TO LEVEL 480 SCAN. MATCH! MATCH! (Flash, flash, flash.) GUILTY - DID NOT DO HOMEWORK. TOTALLY STUPID - WILL MAKE A FOOL OF HIMSELF. AN ABSOLUTE IDIOT - PICK HIM FOR THE LAUGH OF YOUR LIFE. TABLE OF CONTENTS: The Terminator
Bottles of Eight
Blood and Thunder!
Battered by Time
Pup
Child's Play
Jezebel's Revenge
Attack!
Red Fox
Sawbones
William's Grave
Die, Ye Dog
Beam Me Up, Scotty
Possessed of a Demon
Lost
Captain's Cabin
Black Phantom
Accused
Duel to the Death
Betrayal of the Brotherhood
Gov'nor of an Island
Before the Ship Leaves
Pirates By the Hour

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Paperback: 138 pages
• Publisher: Royal Fireworks Pr (October 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0880923210
• ISBN-13: 978-0880923217
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,854,560 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Swashbuckling Fun for Kids (and Adults!), February 26, 2000

By 

Andrea, age 30-something (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bottles of Eight and Pieces of Rum (Paperback)

This book was impossible to put down! I am well above the age range intended for this book, but it was so much fun to read I read it in one sitting! The author has obviously thoroughly researched pirate history, and so the book was not only entertaining and a hoot for youngish readers, but also educational. I really got a sense of what it must of been like--and it ain't like the movies! This is a great book for young and old alike. I dare you to put it down once you've started.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My students love this book., September 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Bottles of Eight and Pieces of Rum (Paperback)

Readers love action and they'll find it in this pirate story. Kip travels back to the time of Jolly Rogers, gangplanks, and cutlasses searching for Isabel, the one person whose presence will give his grandfather the will to live. Kip finds Isabel in a most surprising and dangerous place.

This is a great book to read aloud and will keep an entire class on the edge of their seat, begging for more. It provides the opportunity to discuss slang, unique terms and historic events. A glossary is provided.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for Kids and parents can enjoy it too!, December 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Bottles of Eight and Pieces of Rum (Paperback)

As a parent, I found this book to be a real treasure. I try to read what my child is reading. My daughter's reading level is above her grade level so it is sometimes difficult to find books that are challanging to her, interesting, yet still content appropriate for her age. This book is all of that and a good book also. I can hardly wait to see what Michele publishes next.