Ratings

Content Ratings based on a 0-5 scale where
0 = no objectionable content and
5 = an excessive or disturbing level of content

Guide to Rating System

LANGUAGE

VIOLENCE

SEXUAL CONTENT

ADULT THEMES

Ratings Explanation:

Language: (4) Some use of D*** and H***.  B**** and S*** used a couple of times.  Diety was referenced a few times.  Words such as bastard and tar (a derogatory word toward the sailors) were used.  Also, there were several negative remarks about blacks.  Women were referred to as whores.

Violence: (5) There is mention of a tarred and chained body of a man caged and hanging from a ship.  People are beaten and branded.  Slaves are hunted.  There is a vivid description of a man in a cage as he is being eaten alive by birds.  The man is shot to be put out of his misery.  Another man is shot as he attempts to rape a girl.  The man’s body is thrown to the crocodiles.  A boy’s leg is amputated.  Pirates fight bloody battles between ships.  There is talk of men being tortured by having their ears and lips cut off and then shot in the mouth, along with cannibalism.  A woman is cut with a sword.  Slaves are chained by the neck.  A man dies in a fight to the death.  Nancy is taken prisoner, and her life is threatened.  A man’s head is cut off by a sword and placed on the bowsprit of the ship.

Sexual Content: (4) There are a few kisses between Nancy and William.  Nancy and Minerva swim naked in a pool of water.  A man attempts to rape a woman.  References are made about whores, and a man comes out of a room full of whores while putting on his “breeches”.  A woman exposes her breasts to prove she is a woman.  A man opens a woman’s shirt and exposes her.  Minerva and Vincent kiss.

Adult Themes: (5) Nancy’s mother died when she was born.  Her father travels frequently, and she doesn’t see him very often.  There is mention of tobacco smoke as well as lots of drinking and drunkenness.  Nancy has a step-mother in her teenage years.  Nancy learns of slavery…“We were traders of human flesh.”  An arranged marriage is planned to an evil man.  Nancy’s father dies.  Slaves are treated in an inhumane manner.  Old slaves die alone in ditches.  Blacks were compared to animals.  Phillis describes being taken from her family in Africa at the age of twelve.  Nancy is discouraged from making friends with the blacks.  There is mention of a form of magic from Africa called obeah.  Nancy and Minerva live as pirates.  Pirates live outside of the law as thieves, robbers and murderers.  An evil man hunts after Nancy.  She fears him constantly.  Minerva must deal with hostility due to her skin color wherever she goes.  Nancy and Minerva dress as men to hide their gender.  A ship sinks and bodies are washed ashore.  Nancy struggles with seeing such abominable treatment of the slaves.

Synopsis

Nancy Kington lives a comfortable life in Bristol, England in the 1700’s as the daughter of a wealthy sugar merchant and slave trader.  She enjoys a childhood friendship with a boy who is sent to work on a ship at a young age.  Their friendship deepens with the hopes of a future together as he strives to make his way in the shipping world.  Meanwhile, the untimely death of Nancy’s father sends her on a journey to Jamaica where she discovers more about her father’s plantation and the slaves he kept.  Friendship results with a slave named Minerva.  Nancy is surprised and sickened as she discovers she is to be married to an evil Brazilian man who presents her with a pair of ruby earrings and matching necklace.  Bringing the jewelry with them, Nancy and Minerva find themselves running for their lives.  They find refuge by joining a ship of pirates, where their lives are filled with danger and adventure as they sail the seas dressed as men.  Through it all, Nancy has never forgotten her true love and hopes to reunite with him someday, but she must first face the evil man she fears as he promises there is no where she can hide because he “will find her.”

Summertime is the best time to lose yourself in a great pirate adventure, and with that in mind I was looking for an exciting book to read with my twelve-year-old son.  While this story met some of those expectations, I just couldn’t get past some of the horrors described as Nancy and Minerva lived their pirate lives.  The brutality and death faced by the sailors and pirates were overwhelming, but what was the most difficult thing for me was the slavery.  The atrocities the black people faced sickened me!  They were torn from their homes and families and treated in the most inhumane manner.  I know not every book leaves you feeling good, and this story does end on a positive note, but it just wasn’t something I could read with my son.  It is recommended for grade 7 and up, but I would only recommend it for an older teen or young adult.