Pirates! by Cecilia Rees

Pirates! is set in 1724. Nancy Kingston is the daughter of a wealthy sugar merchant. She is a wild girl who plays at the docks with sailors' kids, in particular William. At a very young age they had decided to marry each other, he a captain, and she going with him. But when Nancy's father dies, his wish is for her to go to his plantation in Jamaica. There she meets her half-sister, Minerva, and discovers that her brothers have arranged a marriage between her and a cruel Brazilian. Instead of marrying him she and Minerva run off together and become pirates. After a while at sea the women and the crew are captured by the Navy, officered by William. Nancy tells him who she is(she and Minerva are in men's clothes)and they are put aside for later. Then the ship starts sinking and William sets them free. Almost every pirate survives the wreck and they are soon back at sea again. After a long time of sailing, the crew splits up and those who are still together settle on Madagascar. But the Brazilian soon finds them and captures everybody but Nancy and Minerva, since Minerva's Nancy's 'slave' and he doesn't think that she can do anything. Right before he kills Nancy, Minerva kills him. Minerva marries a pirate and Nancy goes to find William.

Pirates! is a creepy book. There was one part that I read right before bedtime that made me stay awake for a while. Since Pirates! is set in the times of slavery, you read a lot about the cruelty of white people to blacks. It makes me mad. The main character is Nancy, but Minerva did everything. I admire M because she was so determined to stay with n that she ran away, became a pirate, and left her mother with strangers.