Deadweather and Sunrise

Gr 4–6—Egbert is the neglected and mistreated youngest of three siblings, growing up on an island in the Blue Sea, where his father owns an ugly fruit plantation manned by retired pirates. His mother died when he was born and Egg has been paying for it ever since. As the story opens, his father and siblings are dispatched to their presumed demise in a hot-air balloon, and Egg is left on his own to face the world. Of course where there are pirates there must be a pirate map, and treasure to be found, and a race to be the first to find it. Villains abound in this swashbuckling story, and they are not above using terrible means to get their hands on Egg and his possible fortune. There is also a love interest, Millicent, although her father is the cause of the loss of Egg's family. Eventually there's also a one-handed friend whom Egg meets in a fight to the death when he is captured by pirates. The head count is high, but Egg manages to fight his way to the end of the book, and together the three companions face off an army of soldiers in a triumphant denouement. The violence is extreme, and the dialectic speech of some of the characters may be difficult for some readers.—Jane Barrer, Steinway Intermediate School, Long Island City, New York