Magic Marks the Spot

Review originally posted at The Children's Book and Media Review

Hillary Westfield is the daughter of the Admiral of the Royal Navy, but that doesn’t stop her from dreaming of being a pirate. When she writes to the Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates (VNHLP), they turn her down because she is a girl and then forward her information to Miss Pimm's Finishing School for Delicate Ladies. She and her friend, the gargoyle, run away from finishing school to sail the high seas. She joins Jasper Fletcher (“Terror of the Southlands”), Jasper’s ward Charlie, a boy named Oliver who she suspects is up to no good, and (to her dismay) her former governess, Miss Greyson, in a quest to find the largest treasure trove of magic in the show more kingdom.

Carlson’s writing is clever, witty, and sometimes hilarious. The gem of the book is the dynamic characters with unique voices. The pirates are based on fictional pirates, so the emphasis is on finding treasure rather than the activities of historical pirates. There are some pirate battles and talking about running people through, but the book has little violence. Sailors who lose sword duels simply jump into the ocean and swim back to their ship. The interaction between pirate and high society girls adds humor and uniqueness to this fun book. With plenty of scoundrels and adventure to enjoy, a reader will likely wish to join the Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates themselves. show less

- Audiobook - Young Hilary Westfield wants so very badly to be a pirate. There are only two problems: 1) her father is an Admiral in the Navy, and 2) the Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates (VNHLP) won't accept young girls! How rude! In fact, they forward Hilary's rejected VNHLP application to Admiral Westfield, which gets Hilary shipped off to a prestigious finishing school. She promptly escapes and joins a rag-tag band of reject pirates. The crew includes a young boy named Charlie, a budgerigar named Fitzwilliam Fletcher, the gargoyle from Hilary's home bedroom, and Hilary's own governess. Their mission is to do what all pirates do, of course - find buried magic! The pirate ship is shortly followed by Admiral Westfield's best show more Naval vessel and the headmistress of the finishing school, who want to catch up with Hilary and bring her back home. Or do they?!?

SO CUTE! It's like a younger, funnier, lighter Bloody Jack, with magic. And a talking, overwrought, romance-novel-obsessed gargoyle. Recommended if you like children's books and pirates, and/or if you're addicted to Katherine Kellgren. It's not as fantastic as the Bloody Jack series or the Incorrigible Children, but it's a nice way to pass the time while you're waiting for the next volume in those series. show less

After my last middle grade was such a terrible dud, I was a bit afraid to embark into these pirate-laden waters. What if I felt like they'd shivered the timbers of these books unfairly, robbing them of a better life for inferior content? Or stole away my precious time, better spent with other books? Thankfully, Caroline Carlson's pirates aren't such vicious fiends. They're quite honorable, as pirates go anyway, and entirely lovable. Magic Marks the Spot is pretty close to perfect for what I want from a light-hearted middle grade: humorous, populated by lively characters, and promoting the idea that both boys and girls are capable of the same sorts of things.

Before I even got to page one, Magic Marks the Spot had already made me smile show more and snort. See, before the page numbers even start counting, there are several pages of letters, which set the tone for the rest of the novel. In fact, letters, documents, and snippets of books are woven brilliantly throughout the novel, a technique often used, but rarely done to quite so enjoyable effect.

Hilary Westfield receives a letter congratulating her on her acceptance to the Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates' Piracy Apprenticeship Program and telling her that the program will change her from "a wide-eyed and innocent young man." Hilary writes back, informing them of her excitement and correcting them on a factual error: namely, she's a girl. The VNHLP writes back aghast and offended, forwarding her application on to Miss Pimm's Finishing School for Delicate Ladies, much to Hilary's disgust. In her final response to the VNHLP, she closes with this:

"I assure you that I will walk the plank a thousand times, into cold and shark-infested waters, before I will attend Miss Pimm's.

I remain,
Hilary Westfield
Really Quite Furious with You"

From that moment on, I was in love with this book and its characters. Hilary is a fantastically sassy girl who refuses to let anyone, be they parent, headmistress or pirate, tell her what her gender means she can and cannot do. Magic Marks the Spot is so girl-positive and anti-stereotypes. Pirates can be friendly, girls can be pirates, boys can sew without it doing them a lick of harm, governesses can be sassy, and old ladies can be badasses. These are excellent lessons for the intended age group, and are conveyed in a totally non-preachy way.

Though almost everyone she meets tells Hilary she cannot be a pirate because of her gender and social standing, she does not give up. She has a dream and will not let anyone stop her from getting there. Plus, she has a plucky gargoyle sidekick to help cheer her up when times get rough, like when she's forced to attend Mrs. Pimm's, which teaches courses like etiquette and fainting. Gargoyle is so completely precious, with his desire for ear scratches and dream of one day having a pirate hat.

Hilary's governess, introduced as a rather drab, formidable figure, turns out to be wholly delightful as well. As soon as she ceases being Hilary's governess, she's able to open up to Hilary and truly be a friend. Eloise Greyson is a wonderful human being, and I totally support the ship of her with the pirate captain Jasper, Terror of the Southlands. He's basically the most lovable pirate after Captain Shakespeare from Stardust. Oh, and Charlie, his first made is adorably awkward, and I am waiting for some super cute middle grade romance to happen later.

The one aspect that had me side-eyeing the book was how unaffected Hilary is to learn that her father is the bad guy. Yes, he's not been the most supportive parent ever, but she's sad for like five minutes and then is completely unaffected for the rest of the book. Admiral Westfield was not so terrible that a daughter wouldn't struggle to accept his villainy or be tempted to join up with him. Hilary's a strong girl, so I don't doubt that she would make the same choices, but I would have liked to see her feel more in response to what is a completely groundbreaking change for a child.

Magic Marks the Spot kept me grinning and laughing the whole way through. There's situational humor, sarcasm everywhere, and silly puns. Basically, it's perfection for me and other people who have the sense of humor of a ten year old, like, say, actual ten year olds. I see this being a huge hit with the intended audience, but it's a delight for an older reader as well. show less

I'm delighted that I happened across this book; it was a super-fun read-aloud! The 8-year-old and I were both eager to read more every day. It's amusing, the writing is strong, and, well, there's a really endearing gargoyle.

[2020 reread via audiobook: what a delightful production!]

Have you ever wondered what would happen when the Terror of the Southlands combines forces with a High Society Girl, her gargoyle and her Governess to sail the piratical high seas? Most probably not, but you’ll soon find out when you read The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates-Magic Marks the Spot (VNHLP), a debut novel by Caroline Carlson. And you know the penalty for not reading this book, matey? Ya’ll be walking the plank.

Twleve year old Hilary wants to be a pirate, but the Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates denied her internship application because girls cannot be pirates, regardless of their ability to tie knots and tread water for long periods of time. The daughter of Admiral James Westfield, the Admiral will hear show more none of this hogwash and sends Hilary off to Mrs. Pimm’s Finishing School for Delicate Ladies, to be taught how to curtsy and crochet and faint at a moment’s notice and waltz…not skills required by piracy (except maybe the waltzing…the foot work quite useful in sword fights). Hearing of an opening on the ship of Jasper Fletcher, the Terror of Southland, Hilary sneaks out of school and applies. Surprisingly, he takes her on board. However, we all know that young ladies must be chaparoned, especially when hobnobbing with scoundrels and rapscallions.

In Augusta, magic is worth more than gold, so as the crew of the Pigeon roam the high seas searching for magic, the scoundrels they meet will test their sword fighting, map reading, sailing talents. Magic Marks the Spot is a delightful tale of adventure on the high seas. Drama, combined with humor, make this book a smile invoking, fun read. The crew make a good team against the rogues, some of them unexpected, trying to do them in. And the talking gargoyle is just icing on the cake.

Fans of the Jacky Faber series by L. A. Meyer will certainly enjoy the VNHLP series…I’m assuming there will be more than one book about Hilary et al. So, if you’re looking for a rollicking tale of adventure, magic, with maybe just a tad of romance, join Hilary, Charlie, Governess Greyson and Jasper Fletcher on their voyage. You may find out you want to be a pirate too show less

While I didn't necessarily want to hug this book when I finished, it had some really delightful things about it. I had the opportunity to listen in a couple of nights this weekend to my daughter reading aloud to her children from the book The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom , and it was so fun to hear it read out loud with different voices for the different characters. I'm going to suggest this book to her for her next read-aloud with her kids. It would also make a great classroom read-aloud. I imagine the audio version of this book is pretty fun as well, so get it for your next road trip.

Things I Liked :
*The beginning of the book was adorable with the letters to and from Hillary (our main character) and the Very Nearly Honorable show more League of Pirates. You knew from the first line of the book that this was going to be a fun (and swashbuckling!) read.
*The Gargoyle! I loved everything about him and couldn't wait for his next appearance.
*The lighthearted tone of the whole book. Even the big fight on board was hysterical. The worst injury was someone being clocked on the head with a can of beets, everyone else just jumped overboard when they decided to give up on the fight. (This is explained later.)
*I really loved so many of the characters. Miss Greyson, the governess was a delight from the very beginning. She kept her composure and finishing school etiquette even while living on a pirate ship. Jasper, the Terror of the Southlands, was entertaining and endearing (for a pirate :) ). Charlie, Claire, Miss Pimm, all of the different pirates - there were so many engaging characters.

Things I Didn't Like :
*Every chapter ended with either letters, parts of textbooks, forms filled out, newspaper articles... While some of these were hilarious, some just brought the flow of the book to a complete halt. I'm also concerned that some of the fonts for the letters/correspondence are in cursive, and middle school students (regrettably) can't read cursive anymore. Adults will find these chapter endings charming, but I am betting that most middle school students will just skip right over them.
*Hillary comes from a horrible family and her father is quite evil.

Areas of concern:
*The pirates lust for vengeance, treasure, and overall bloodthirstiness is glorified.
*Some bullying behavior at finishing school.
*Pirates drinking grog around children.
*Rather silly violence.
(As you can tell, there really aren't too many things to be concerned about in this one.)

http://read-me-maybe.blogspot.com show less

A girl pirate with a gargoyle for a pet/sidekick! I was very excited about this one, but it just fell flat for me. Lots of other people love it, but I just found it dull and predictable.