The Pirate Queen

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Gifted at breathing life into a remote past, Caldecott Medalist McCully (Mirette on the High Wire) once again reaches into the grab bag of history-and unabashedly embroidered legend-emerging with this swashbuckling tale of Grania O'Malley, Ireland's famed lady pirate. Her larger-than-life career is chronicled here from birth in 1530 (her mother reputedly noted that the babe had "the light of the sea in her eyes") and early days sailing and marauding with her father, through marriage and childbirth (on the high seas of course), building and losing an empire (half a dozen castles), imprisonment and, finally, meeting her worthy contemporary, Elizabeth I of England, to whom she pleaded her case and won her bold gamble to return to the high seas. McCully writes with great flair, and her sweeping watercolors capitalize on the historical drama. Whether depicting the misty Irish seas or an exciting shipboard melee, her artwork bestows on Grania's life the big-screen effect it deserves. What a woman, what a tale. Hollywood, are you listening? Ages 4-8. (Oct.)

School Library Journal

Gr 2-5-This story of Irish swashbuckler Grania O'Malley is culled from both legend and history (an author's note provides clarification). McCully introduces a 16th-century heroine who will intrigue youngsters and who will offer educators an alternative to what is traditionally presented as a male "occupation.'' Grania's unique mixture of brains and brawn was revealed at an early age through her fluent Latin, her ability to outdance and outgamble any of the sailors, and through a courageous act that saved her father's life. Nothing deterred her. A day after her son was born at sea, Grania "exchanged the babe for a blunderbuss...and burst onto the deck'' in the midst of a Turkish raid. At the pinnacle of her success, the fearless marauder met her match in an English governor, hired to subdue the Irish. The climax poses the pirate queen in a face-off with Queen Elizabeth I. Windswept hair, leaping figures, blurred outlines, and a liberal use of white highlights pack the paintings with motion and energy that propel the adventures. It is interesting to note that the title appears in the same year as Jane Yolen's The Ballad of the Pirate Queens (Harcourt, 1995). While the two books differ in specific subject, in literary form, and in artistic style, they certainly invite comparison and pairing. Brave students and teachers will want to read both.-Wendy Lukehart, Dauphin County Library, Harrisburg, PA

Carolyn Phelan

This handsome picture book introduces a colorful figure in Irish history. Born in 1530, Grania O'Malley took to the sea as a child, learning her father's trade of seafaring (and piracy) and saving his life in a battle with English buccaneers. She later married, had children, led her own ships, and built her own kingdom in Clew Bay. Captured and released by the English, she traveled to London, met Queen Elizabeth, and formed an alliance that granted Grania the right to her lands and "to defend the Crown with fire and sword." Rich with color and the effects of light on seascapes, landscapes, and people, the artwork makes the most of the story's dramatic content. Children intrigued by pirates will enjoy McCully's unusual picture book, which offers some insight into the history behind the legend and illuminates more than the life of Grania O'Malley.