Daughter of the Pirate King

Gr 8 Up—Levenseller's debut novel is a high-seas tale of a powerful female pirate on a mission set forth by her ruthless father. Alosa, a pirate princess, is the captain of her own ship with a mostly female crew. She is tough and clever and has a hidden secret that allows her to subdue the strongest of men. Her crew's mission is to track down an age-old piece of a legendary treasure map. Alosa's father, the Pirate King, is in possession of one-third of the map, and he sends Alosa to retrieve another part from a rival, Captain Draxen. In order to be taken aboard Draxen's ship, Alosa stages her own capture. Draxen, of course, believes that he has the upper hand and sends a ransom message to the king. Alosa is put under the watchful eye of Draxen's brother, Riden, who interrogates the princess. She is determined to discover the hiding place of the map, and she must conceal her true purpose and use clever tricks to escape her cell in order to search the ship. Finally, frustrated by her failure to locate the map, she turns to her secret power to enchant with song. With many plot turns and emotional bonds forming between Alosa and Riden, the search leads to an interesting twist. Levenseller has created a formidable female character who can take care of herself as she makes some hard decisions.