Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
Review: Pirates!
Pirates! by Celia Rees. Bloomsbury. 2003.
This is a page turner based on a true story, proving that fact is usually stranger than fiction and that a really good story can come from a mixture of the two.
Nancy is upset about her impending arranged marriage. She is stuck on her father's Jamaican plantation awaiting her doom. One night she comes across Minerva, one of the slaves on the plantation being attacked by the overseer. Nancy kills the overseer in order to save Minerva. The girls realize they must escape the plantation and find themselves on the Deliverance which isn't just any ship, but a pirate ship. Over this period of time the friends discover they are sisters by blood. Their actions make them sisters in spirit. Soon Nancy learns that as pirates who are constantly at battle with the British navy, they are at war with her true love William, who is pretty disgruntled when he finds out his girlfriend has become a pirate. Only time will tell if they can work it out. This is a fun adventure story where female characters are in the starring roles. It's age old story of if women can have it all- good friends, the guy, maybe a family one day, and still be able to run an entire pirate ship.
An engaging read for older tweens, 7th to 9th grade.
ATOS Book Level: 5.4
AR Points: 14.0
Trends
Your shoes say a lot about you. At the library, the cool thing for girls is to wear extra high (or, excuse me, x-hi) converse sneakers with their school uniforms, which I love, it's very punk rock. They usually wear leggings under their skirts, so it is a very common occurrence that they will come in from school, ask for a bathroom key, and head to the bathroom to loose the skirt. Sometimes if the bathroom's occupied they'll just find a vacant isle in the nonfiction section and shed the skirt like it was was a heavy coat, even more punk rock. They do it with an easy nonchalance. This is the beauty of a truly great trend, and what makes it become classic style, the fact that it doesn't make you appear insecure and shouts that you're trying to fit it. Instead, you are allowed to make it your own.
Now here's the funny thing. My cousins also have a shoe of choice. That is the Tom's slip on shoe. Not only are these shoes a mix of preppy meets hippie, but you become an automatic philanthropic patron when you buy a pair. Checking the prices online, if a person was to buy a pair of extra high converse's or a pair of Toms shoes it would put them back about the same amount, give or take $10 to $15 or so. What matters is the message you want to send. Here are two pairs of shoes that aren't about what your parents want you to put on your feet, because you aren't mimicking a more adult style. No one over 17 should really be caught in either shoe.
The marketing for each company varies. Converse with its street smart urban cool. Toms with its do good preppiness. Back in middle school I too coveted a pair of shoes that I felt would define me. I saved all my babysitting money to buy a pair of red Dr. Martens boots. I loved them dearly. This may make me a little biased toward the style of the tweens at the library, but no matter what style you choose, what you put on your feet says something about who you are to the world and how you're going to walk in it.
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