: Brine Seaborne is on a ship, sailing to a place over the hills and far away...Brine is eating octopus tentacles, which are quite chewy, but she wonders whether or not they are safe to eat... The ship's name is the Onion, a ship spoken of in legends. Locked in the brig is a bald magician named Marfak West, and he is very evil. There are also some weirdly named pirates, a mediocre pirate chef, and a strange magician apprentice, Peter. This quirky novel tells the tale of how Brine, former servant to the grouchy old magician so-and-so. Together with Peter, the magician's apprentice, she flees her home of the Minutes Islands and comes across the Onion. Convinced that a pirate's life is not for them, the ship's captain Cassie O'Pia decides to sell them as servants at Morning Island; alas, her plan is interrupted when that evil bald magician suddenly appears and tells them of a mysterious place near the north pole called Magical North... There, they say, since all magic flows north, one may stand and see all. Ooooh. And there's treasure. This amazing book was full of great characters, a nicely imagined fantastical world, and the evil penguins were a nice touch. Or are they puffins? Also, the excerpts from the books of the Magical North world at the start of chapters added to the story. But I was perturbed when I realized that the cover is not accurate, since there isn't actually a giant octopus in the story. Also, how Marfak West doesn't tell lies is mentioned many times; around three people said that in the book, and there are around three similes about pulling down mountains. Aside from that, the writing style was better than average. Great author, very original story. I definitely recommend it for seekers of good Middle-Grade Fiction.
The Voyage to Magical North (The Accidental Pirates)
By Claire Fayers
| Interest Level | Reading Level | Reading A-Z | ATOS | Word Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grades 4 - 8 | Grade 6 | n/a | 5.2 | 73104 |
Twelve-year-old Brine Seaborne is a girl with a past--if only she could remember what it is. Found alone in a rowboat as a child, clutching a shard of the rare starshell needed for spell-casting, she's spent the past years keeping house for an irritable magician and his obnoxious apprentice, Peter.
When Brine and Peter get themselves into a load of trouble and flee, they blunder into the path of the legendary pirate ship the Onion. Before you can say "pieces of eight," they're up to their necks in the pirates' quest to find Magical North, a place so shrouded in secrets and myth that most people don't even think it exists. If Brine is lucky, she’ll find her place in the world. And if she's unlucky, everyone on the ship will be eaten by sea monsters. It could really go either way.
