From Justin Somper, award-winning author of the Vampirates series, comes the third book in this new swashbuckling fantasy adventure series.
At the elite Pirate Academy, everyone is on high alert as the villainous League of True Pirates continues to recruit more and more to their cause, including one of the Barracuda class's favorite teachers.
The kids all handle this shocking reveal in different ways. Jacoby tries to make sense of the betrayal only to discover evidence that one of his own classmates may be LOT P’s next target. Jasmine launches a maverick sailing mission to reunite with her father, but soon finds herself voyaging in highly dangerous waters. And Neo follows a treasure-trail left by his mother, far away from the Academy. At the end of his journey lies an amazing gift: a sword with untold powers that, in the right hands, might just change everything...---from the publisher
304 pages 979-8217050499 Ages 8-12
Keywords: action/adventure, fantasy, pirates, academy, danger, betrayal, sword, friendship, cooperation, part of a series, working together, If You Liked The Last Kids On Earth, 8 year old, 9 year old, 10 year old, 11 year old, 12 year old
******
Other reviews:
"All the rip-roaring adventure you would expect from a Justin Somper book. Pirates done right! I love this world." —Eoin Colfer, bestselling author of the Artemis Fowl series
*****
Hot on the heels of the release of The Unlucky Pirate, the story of real-life pirate Captain William Kidd, and the re-release of The Smuggler's Curse, a more traditional tale of piratical swashbuckling and derring-do, comes the third in this trilogy about pirates that includes New Kid on Deck and Missing at Sea. But the point of difference with this series is that it is set in 2507 - far into the future when the oceans have risen but essentially the premise of good vs evil, the action, the suspense and the plot intrigues of all good pirate adventures are all still there.
In this final episode, the three friends go on separate quests - Neo Splice has left his friends behind at Pirate Academy and is aboard the legendary Brave as the Waves. Together with Captain December Wilde and her faithful four-legged companion Pickle, he is following a mysterious trail of clues left by his late mother getting closer to revealing his unique destiny.
Back at Pirate Academy, Jacoby Blunt and Jasmine Peacock are fighting to understand what makes their friends, family and now a favourite teacher defect to the rebellious League of True Pirates. So when Jasmine launches a maverick sailing mission to reunite with her father in the hope of finding out more, her friend Jacoby is right by her side. But a surprise twist sees the two friends separated and behind enemy lines. Can Jasmine and Jacoby help the Pirate Federation stop the League of True Pirates from fulfilling its secret mission? Can Neo harness the magical power of the Sword of Echoes to learn secrets that will help him fulfil his destiny?
Survival for all three young pirates-in-training will depend on everything they have learnt at Pirate Academy. However, Neo, Jasmine and Jacoby will soon discover they each have far more power than they realised to change the course of events …
Continuing the themes of co-operation, teamwork, resilience, backing themselves and each other which are as important 500 years from now as they are today, and the development of the individual characters as they learn and grow through their studies at the Pirate Academy, the tests and challenges they face and the adventures they have had so far, this is a series best read in order but for those for whom it is a new discovery, it is prefaced with a summary of the story so far so even they can join the adventure immediately.
I deliberately kept this series aside until I had all three episodes so I could give it to the local school complete so that the young, independent readers could indulge themselves for some time over the cold, long, winter nights, and it seems to have been a good decision as it has proven very popular. There's a waitlist and extra copies on order! And, even though this was originally billed as a trilogy, the ending suggests that there may be even further episodes to come, so those readers - some of them just discovering the joy of reading and the power of following a series - will be thrilled.
Recommended by: Barbara Braxton, Teacher Librarian, New South Wales AUSTRALIA
See more of her recommendations:
500 Hats http://500hats.edublogs.org/
