Pirates of the Caribbean: Jack Sparrow Sins of the Father

We have been reading the whole series of Jack Sparrow books...and we really enjoy them. They are adventurous and easy to read and follow for kids. My 9 year old read the whole series pretty quickly and was eagerly awaiting the release of the last book in the series.

A little boy who doesn't like to read much is entranced by these Jack Sparrow books. They're well written for kids with a sense of adventure. Like the Hardy Boys or a dozen other series before them, they deliver a consistent and familiar character in cleverly worked plots. The one thing I'd like to change would be to add few more illustrations. All you get here is the illustration on the cover.

This is a fine book if you're familiar with this series about the teenage Jack Sparrow, but it can't stand on its own. Start off with this one and the characters will be unfamilar and the story confusing. As the inside front cover instructs, "To get the whole story, mate, you'll need to read `em all... Savvy?" This installment is written well, however. It's a compelling adventure, and funny. Jack is betrayed by his childhood friend, loses and gains and loses his ship The Barnacle, is fired upon by the Royal Navy, nearly walks the plank and tries to break free from the man who raised him, the pirate Teague. A funny bit at the beginning mentions Teague's problems with supporting Jack's hobbies. "He'd had, for example, a particularly difficult time understanding Jack's interest in cosmetics." There are a few nice black and white illustrations. Here are the other nine titles: * Vol. 1: The Coming Storm * Vol. 2: The Siren Song * Vol. 3: The Pirate Chase * Vol. 4: The Sword of Cortes * Vol. 5: Age of Bronze * Vol. 6: Silver * Vol. 7: City of Gold * Vol. 8: The Timekeeper * Vol. 9: Dance of the Hours

I bought these books for my 12yr old daughter. She's a huge POTC fan & has gobbled these books down. Now she has the whole set (9 in all). She enjoyed them immensely & wishes more were available.