Terry and the Pirates - Softcover

Thompson, Julian F.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0689850859 ISBN 13: 9780689850851

Publisher: Simon Pulse, 2002

Synopsis

When sixteen-year-old Terry Talley stows away on a yacht, she doesn't expect to encounter another runaway and end up shipwrecked on a tiny island with a bunch of oddball pirates who are looking for some buried treasure, in a rollicking adventure by the author of The Grounding of Group 6. Reprint.

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

Thompson (A Band of Angels) writes a fast-paced and pleasingly far-fetched adventure story. When 16-year-old Terry learns that her parents plan to send her to boarding school, she decides to stow away on the ship of millionaire adventurer Maitland Crane. But to her shock, it's Maitland's stuttering son Mick (named for Mick Jagger) steering the boatAhe's stolen the vessel to get attention from his neglectful dad. When a severe storm lands Terry on Isla Muela Negro (Black Molar Island) in the Bermuda Triangle (with Mick presumably overboard), she becomes prisoner to a group of pirates. She must pretend to play along with their ransom scheme and plan an escape before the marauders make her into "fish food." Thompson throws in an inexplicable twist: Mick's split personality (sometimes he's a smooth-talking 15th-century French marquis from one of his past lives) shifts gears at random. Yet the outlandish plot and the outrageous group of bandits make this story work. Short Bill Gold wears a powder blue leisure suit, and preteen twins Cherry and Buddy have been raised to think that drug-smuggler shoot-outs and plank walking are normal ("Dibbies on doing the blindfold," Cherry shouts when they take Terry captive). The romantic relationship between Terry and Mick is predictable, but well-developed, and readers will appreciate their mutual respect. All in all, this tale will elicit hearty laughter, and an as-yet-unrecovered buried treasure hints at a possible sequel. Ages 12-up. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 9 Up-Funny and irreverent in tone, Thompson's latest offering is a lighthearted romp set on an island in the Bermuda Triangle. When 16-year-old Terry Talley ducks boarding school by stowing away on a yacht belonging to Maitland Crane, she finds the millionaire's teenaged son at the helm. She's not the only runaway; Mick has stolen his father's boat in order to get his attention. Surviving a storm that has swept Mick overboard, Terry encounters a band of eccentric modern-day pirates, a lascivious myna bird, the world's largest living lizard, and-of course-buried treasure. Though entertaining, this is a slight story with a cast of largely unsympathetic characters. After Mick is seemingly lost at sea, Terry cuts her grieving short in order to select a "drop-dead gorgeous" rescue outfit; she opts for an "engaging little sundress" and just a touch of eyeliner. By the end of the book, unfortunately, she's only a tad less shallow. Still, the teens' unlikely romance is touching. Terry and the Pirates also boasts an attractive cover and a satisfying, if unrealistic, resolution. The novel will appeal to those who fantasize about taking off to see the world on their own.
Miranda Doyle, San Francisco Public Library
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon Pulse
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0689850859
• ISBN 13: 9780689850851
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 320