Pirates! Audiobook By Celia Rees cover art

Pirates!

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Pirates!

By: Celia Rees
Narrated by: Jennifer Wiltsie
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It is the dawn of the 18th century, when girls stay home and sew while men sail the high seas finding adventure, danger, and gold. But two unusually adventurous girls (a rich merchant's daughter, Nancy Kington, and her former plantation slave, Minerva Sharpe) take to the high seas from Jamaica on a ship the crew renames Deliverance. Not just any trading ship, the Deliverance flies black flags from its mast, proclaiming to all that the newly named, hijacked ship is a pirate vessel, striking fear into the hearts of those she approaches. Or so they hope.

For Nancy, the Deliverance is her escape from an arranged betrothal to a controlling and devilish man. For Minerva, it is an escape from slavery, as well as from the fearsome overseer on Nancy's family plantation. But in the end, the money, the adventure, the companionship, and the chance to see the world not as women, but as bold and daring pirates, is an opportunity neither can deny.

A powerful, thrilling, and ultimately inspiring journey of two women who break the bonds of gender, race, and position to find their own way to glory.

©2003 Celia Rees (P)2004 Random House, Inc. Listening Library is an imprint of the Random House Audio Publishing Group Fiction Romance Pirate Heartfelt Adventure

Critic reviews

"A rip-roaring adventure with an engaging female heroine." (School Library Journal)
"Rees evokes the times with stunning precision, and in Nancy's fierce, period-appropriate voice, she tells a riveting, full-speed adventure filled with girl-powered action, magic, and love, even as it explores the brutality and horror of dark historical times." (Booklist)
"Listeners will be enchanted by Jennifer Wiltsie's narration of the exploits of female pirates Nancy Kington and Minerva Sharpe." (AudioFile)

Featured Article: Go on a Swashbuckling Adventure with These Pirate Audiobooks and Podcasts


From classic sagas of buccaneers commanding the seas to fantasy novels featuring high-tech spacefarers, there's something about pirates that gets our hearts pumping and imaginations soaring! If you love a good adventure story, then you'll want to be sure to check out this list of the best audiobooks and podcasts with pirates, featuring both fiction and nonfiction. Whether you're a seadog or scallywag, a kid or grown up, find your next great pirate listen here.

Featured Article Go on a Swashbuckling Adventure with These Pirate Audiobooks and Podcasts
Engaging Adventure • Historical Accuracy • Strong Female Characters • Vivid Details • Lyrical Writing • Wonderful Voice
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Pirates! is more a feminist nautical yarn than an historical romance. I think "bodice ripper" is inaccurate - there's no sex at all, and the female characters are brave, smart, active and politically correct to the modern standard. These personal qualities were doubtless in very short supply in actual seventeenth-century ladies!

There are plenty of fairy-tale elements, so your belief will need some suspension. However, the story is engrossing, the writing fine, the historical bits informative, and the narration top-notch.

a Romance, not a romance

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I enjoyed the historical accuracy, technical/historical descriptions, moral quandries and lryical writing. However, this firm foundation was lavishishly decorated with a flimsy tattered (but ultimately unrevealing) bodice ripper with (thankfully) less graphic sex than is usual to the genre. I suspect a younger reader (say 13/14) would enjoy it more. The storm scenes, the slightly para-normal scenes, the evil dark revengeful rejected suiter scenes, the tearful reunion scenes, the frolicing in Eden scenes, the almost being violated scenes, the discovery (which an alert reader could have anticipated by about 20 chapters) that the "kinship between them was more than it seemed" scene.....it all got a little cloying to say the least! Beth

Bodice Ripper Plus

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This is a really wonderful story with vivid details, strong character development and an engaging plot. I especially like the strength of the female characters. As far as the audiobook version is concerned, the narrator has a lovely voice and her pacing is perfect. I highly recommend this to anyone with an interest in a non-Hollywood interpretation of pirates. This is nice for adults and teens. I give it 5 stars without hesitation!

Love it!

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This is a fun listen ... exciting, dangerous situations, adventure, bravery ... all things that make a child's book great. And it has a happy ending!

Fun!

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Ordered this for my children's summer reading. I enjoyed it as much as they did!

Great family listening!

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The brothers and step mother sending the sister away.. I thought it remarkable she stayed true to her Friend since childhood.

The strength of the two sisters.

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Told in the first person Pirates is a story of two young women who by chance and choice, are thrust into Piracy. All the while one is being persued by a devilishly sinsiter man who intends to marry her, putting all the mates in terrible danger.

The narrator does a wonderful job!

Fabulous Story

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I didn't realize it was for kids, but it was still ok.

Audible for KIDS

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Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Absolutely Yes!! Jennifer Wiltsie is Incredible!! She makes this books I can't for the life of me understand why they had it redone! You will love listening to her!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Nancy is my favorite character!! Was a strong perfect female lead! This is the type of character you hope your daughters would pattern themselves after, sure pirates aren't known for being "good" but I love that she didn't bow to the demands put on her by society and made her own way!

What about Jennifer Wiltsie’s performance did you like?

I love her accent, I love her reading! I have NO COMPLAINTS about this narrator! She is an A plus!!!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I did listen to this book all in one sitting the first time! I've listened to it several times since!

This is The Performance You Want!!!

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Where does Pirates! rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

One of the best.

Any additional comments?

I wish there were more female pirate novels like this-- perhaps one about Anne Bonny?

I wish there was more!

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