Beware Pirates! (Canadian Flyer) by Frieda Wishinsky Date of Publication: 2007 ISBN: 9781897066805 Number of Pages: 72

REQUIRED READING ABILITY: Junior: Low
GENRES: Historical Fiction/Adventure
THEMES: Good versus Evil - Prejudice - Appearance versus Reality

SUMMARY:
Emily has just moved into her Great Aunt Miranda's old house, where all sorts of interesting artifacts are stored in a cool tower at the top of the house. When she meets her new neighbour, Matt Martinez, he and Emily decide to try out the old Canadian Flyer sled, which Aunt Miranda has mysteriously suggested might be magic. Lo and behold, before they know it, Matt and Emily are being whooshed back in time to 1577 and what is now Nunavut, where they meet the privateer, Martin Frobisher. Captain Frobisher and his crew are pretty rough characters, and when Matt and Emily realize he has kidnapped a young Inuit boy from the nearby area, they join forces with their new friend, Minik…but can they save the day...

WHO WOULD LOVE THIS BOOK? A kid who...-
- loves history (especially Canadian)
- is into pirates
- is a weak reader
- likes adventure
- wants to know more about Martin Frobisher and Canada's "pirates"
- is interested in Canada's north

WHAT ELSE?
This is the first in a time travel series of early chapter books for Canadian readers. Each will deal with another aspect of Canadian history, but in an adventure format, with the same two protagonists. It is a bit like Magic Tree House, but is better written and with a Canadian slant. The author manages to slip in all sorts of historical detail while sticking with a simple story told with lots of action and pretty basic vocabulary. There is also a section at the back with non-fiction elements.

RELATED LINK: www.shop4author.co.uk/FRIEDA WISHINSKY