One of the most awesome groups who visit me on a regular basis are our ACES and SCSpEd students. Their positive attitude is contagious, and they are very forthcoming with what they want to read about! One of the ladies in this group asked for a book about pirates. We were both a little dismayed to find all of our pirate books were about men!
So, I set out to find a middle grade reading level book about women pirates. Here we are. Once my student returned it, and it had quarantined the recommended 72 hours for books, I checked it out myself. Because I like pirates too!
This is a collection of short biographies on female pirates from across the globe during various times in history. If you've ever seen The Pirates of the Caribbean movies, you'll recognize some of these pirates instantly (Cheng I Sao appears in At World's End as "Mistress Ching"), other were simply nodded to (Anna Maria in Curse of the Black Pearl is a reference to Anne Bonny and Mary Read).
The reality is pirates, with the gray area exception of privateers, are criminals, and glorifying them is, well, perhaps wrong. But the lure of the sea, the call of adventure, and the hope of vast riches tends to skew our view on these real historical figures in favor of the Jack Sparrows, Will Turners, and Elizabeth Swans of movies. How many times do we see people on the West Haven beach after a bad storm with metal detectors? The fantasy that treasure might turn up is still very much alive. And for far too long, the pirate narrative has only focused on men.
I am happy to add another book featuring strong women from our past, even those who broke the law. As we all know, "well behaved women rarely make history".
Find this on our next display!
All opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W.
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