The Dark Frigate

I finished reading The Dark Frigate on the plane on the way home last week, and I have to say, if this is the best that 1924 had to offer, I'm just glad I wasn't a young boy in 1924.

Although the cover promised that this was going to be a book about pirates, it was more than a third done before our young hero sees the ocean, and more than half done before the first pirate shows up. Then there's a few failed pirate raids, and then ... well, I'll let you endure it yourself.

A couple years ago I determined to read all the Newbery books, and I still have this goal, but some times I have to wonder if the Newbery judges had horrible childhoods and wanted to make other little kids suffer too.

I dunno, perhaps some people like this kind of thing. And the blurb on the cover says it's the best thing since Treasure Island. But this guy is no Stevenson, and The Old One is no Long John Silver. Count me very disappointed at the 1924 choice, and hoping it gets better.