Pirates by Celia Rees

“Pirates”, set in the eighteenth century, tells the tale of two very different girls who take to the seas and become pirates in order to get away from their terrible lives and be free. Minerva is a poor slave girl who is forced to work on a plantation farm and has to suffer in terrible conditions and be treated appallingly by the Plantation Manager. Nancy Kington is an English girl who is the daughter of a wealthy Merchant. She is oppressed by the life she is forced to live and longs to be free and not be forced to marry a man she loathes. After a terrible incident the two girls are forced to run away together and turn to piracy in order to survive. They encounter many things on their travels and undertake a few battles along the way.

The book is in the genre of ‘Adventure’ and is intended for teenagers. The style of Rees’ writing means that any teenager can read this book and enjoy it but could be enjoyed by some adults too because the style is written in a way that adults would find it a good read and not too easy. The key themes focused upon in this book are that of – segregation of wealth, race and social position. The two girls break all these segregated barriers as they become good friends and run away together. Like in all Rees’ books, the characters are strong and have clear personalities. She has a way of making the reader think these characters are real people and not just fictional. The thing that drives this story is the tales of what these girls did, the adrenaline drives the reader forward and makes them want to keep reading, this book has everything – adventure, battles/fighting and underneath it all is the friendship of the two girls. The ending definitely doesn’t disappoint and certainly leaves you wanting more.

I would give this book a Star rating of 5!

by AP