About book Sea Queens: Women Pirates Around The World (2008)
I was looking for stories about women at sea and came across Jane Yolen's, Sea Queens book. Whoever said women were the weaker sex? Yolen starts her nonfiction book with Artemisia, Admiral Queen of Persia: 500-480 BC. What? Lady sea captains in that era? Yes, there were and she continues her exploration of pirate queens through the early 19th century. Yolen has done extensive research and includes three pages of bibliographic references, helpful websites and an index at the end of her book. Stories about pirates are bound to be a little bit violent, but she handles this with a matter-of-fact frankness that does not include gore. She also looks at clothing and disguises worn by the women (a necessity in most cases) as well as the respect they garnered from their ship mates. This is good read for girls with an adventuresome spirit--especially on "talk-like-a-pirate" day. Today, September 19th, was Talk Like a Pirate Day, so I thought today would be the perfect day to read Sea Queens. I was right -- I love it when that happens.Sea Queens is wonderfully well-researched, but it does not read like a textbook. Actually, if textbooks read like this, I would have been far more interested in history when I was in school. It reads like a well-told tale that happens to be factual. I devoured it quickly, I learned quite a bit, and I will be re-reading it over the years. The illustrations are not necessary -- this book would still be interesting and accessible without them -- but they do add a layer of intrigue. The woodblock style artwork is a perfect choice for the subject matter.
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And the award for the most badass lady pirate goes to... Grania O'Malley. 1530-1603.
—sebrina
Interesting to learn about women pirates from so many backgrounds.
—iloveapplejuice
