The Terror of the Southlands

July 1, 2014

Gr 2-6-Former high-society girl Hilary Westfield is a pirate, recognized by the Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates. She's happy to be accompanying her former governess, turned bookseller, Miss Greyson, and retired pirate Jasper to distribute magic pieces around the kingdom. Unfortunately, she is called to the crow's nest of the president of VNHLP, Rupert Blacktooth, and warned that she is not being daring or adventurous enough for a pirate. Instead of following Blacktooth's orders, Hilary, along with the trusty, if self-aggrandizing, Gargoyle, and her good friend Pirate Charlie, head off to find out what has happened to the Enchantress, overseer of magic in the kingdom and headmistress of a girl's finishing school (also known as Miss Pimm.) Hilary is determined to find out who kidnapped Miss Pimm. She finds herself avoiding the Queen's incompetent inspectors, interviewing distasteful members of high society, and visiting her father in the Dungeons. This book picks up where the first one ended, though readers can piece together the backstory through excerpts of Gargoyle's memoirs that are quoted throughout. This sequel is written with the same tongue-in-cheek tone and revisits this world in which pirates are polite, hold annual picnics, and do not tolerate villainous behavior. Carlson has once again written a light adventure with just the right amount of ridiculous mixed in. A solid choice for those who own the first installment.-Clare A. Dombrowski, Amesbury Public Library, MA

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 15, 2014
Fledgling pirate captain Hilary bravely engages in nonpiratical behavior to rescue kidnapped friends and expose chicanery in high places.The sudden disappearances of freelance pirate Jasper Fletcher, husband of her ex-governess, Eloise Greyson, and aging Enchantress Eugenia Pimm prompt Hilary and her motley crew to set off on a search. They do this in the face of ominous threats from a mysterious band of "Mutineers" and repeated official warnings from the Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates that she'd better shape up (piratically speaking) or lose her cutlass and membership card. Carlson stocks her cast with Disney-style buccaneers ("Arr!" one growls. "Be ye needin' a hand, matey? I'm afraid I've only got the one"), snooty aristocrats, silly police inspectors and like fodder for comical contretemps. She charts for her protagonist a zigzag course from one set piece to the next toward a climactic society ball-cum-pirate melee (totally bloodless). Most of the many inserted letters, documents, gossipy news items and general announcements add little beyond visual variety to the narrative, though passages from the memoirs of Hilary's vain, talking gargoyle sidekick do supply helpful recaps of the opening episode's events.Bland pirate burlesque with plenty of standard-issue buckling of swash-but dead in the water with regard to story arc, in just its second volume. (map) (Fantasy. 10-13)

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July 1, 2014
Grades 3-6 In this follow-up to Magic Marks the Spot (2013), Pirate Hilary Westfield is accused of unpiratical behavior and informed she must do something bold and daring in order to maintain her good standing. Along with first mate Charlie and school friend Claire, she sets off to find and rescue the Enchantress of the Northlands, who has been kidnapped by the mysterious Mutineers. Much of the humor derives from the unlikely pairing of pirates and high-society folk, with the bad guys almost always hailing from the upper crust. Ahoya third offering is in the works.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2015
Amid accusations of insufficiently piratical conduct, pirate Hilary Westfield must decide if she should risk her reputation in the League by rescuing Enchantress of the Northlands, Miss Pimm. Fans of the first installment will find the same combination of silliness and well-plotted adventure, complete with cheerful chapter-opening spot art and letters whose formality belies their absurdity.

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)