Linda Bailey
This is a book that I did not expect to enjoy, but it is definitely charming and fun. Lewis Dearborn is a painfully shy boy who has trouble even talking to anyone in school. The book begins when his family finds out they will inherit Lewis' beloved Great-Granddad's (very old and dilapidated) mansion. After moving in, Lewis wants a bit of independence and chooses the room in the mansion's tower for his bedroom. He quickly finds out the room is haunted...by pirates centuries years old!
The seven pirates all have distinct personalities, and lend a lot of humor to the story. My favorite scenes are when Lewis is forced to read pirate-themed bedtime stories to the ghosts. When Lewis reads Peter Pan and Wendy aloud they scream, "GIVE US HOOK!" and they fall in love with Long John Silver from Treasure Island. The pirates soon find they have a partner in Lewis and demand that he deliver them home to the Maria Louisa, the ship they were killed in. The problem is that the ship is now in a guarded museum and it is haunted by the pirate who killed them, Captain Dire.
Readers will love the plan Lewis devises to get the pirates to their ship which involves the pirates dressing in vintage seventies and eighties thrift store clothes and facing their biggest fear...cars. Read the book to watch Lewis join the pirate crew, become one of the most adventurous boys in school, and learn to speak up. The last scene sees Lewis looking at his town as something better, different, and happier.
The seven pirates all have distinct personalities, and lend a lot of humor to the story. My favorite scenes are when Lewis is forced to read pirate-themed bedtime stories to the ghosts. When Lewis reads Peter Pan and Wendy aloud they scream, "GIVE US HOOK!" and they fall in love with Long John Silver from Treasure Island. The pirates soon find they have a partner in Lewis and demand that he deliver them home to the Maria Louisa, the ship they were killed in. The problem is that the ship is now in a guarded museum and it is haunted by the pirate who killed them, Captain Dire.
Readers will love the plan Lewis devises to get the pirates to their ship which involves the pirates dressing in vintage seventies and eighties thrift store clothes and facing their biggest fear...cars. Read the book to watch Lewis join the pirate crew, become one of the most adventurous boys in school, and learn to speak up. The last scene sees Lewis looking at his town as something better, different, and happier.