In this funny chapter book from the bestselling middle grade adventure series, a world traveling journalist mouse hunts for treasure with his family. My sister had come up with a new way to torment me. She’d combined my two least favorite things—travel and ghosts! Thea had heard rumors of a haunted pirate treasure buried on a desert island. And before I could say “avast ye scurvy rats,” she’d dragged me into her treasure hunt! Praise for Geronimo Stilton’s books: “Lightning pace and full-color design will hook kids in a flash.” —Publishers Weekly
A sighting of the rare frangipani fruit fly sends Lilly's scientist parents off in search of the fabled Shipwreck Islands. In this Smithsonian's Notable Book for Children, Lilly awaits their return at the home of her great-uncle Ernest, the chief librarian of Mundelaine, a town that seems to have more than its share of piratical-looking characters lurking about. When news comes that her parents' ship has wrecked, she must overcome her fear of the sea, find the hidden island, and outsmart a bunch of treasure-hungry pirates to save the day.
“Crichton’s ultimate adventure.” —San Francisco Chronicle “Pirates Latitudes has the loot: Gore, sex, action….A lusty, rollicking 17th century adventure.” —USA Today “Riveting….Great entertainment….The pages and minutes fly by.” —Cleveland Plain Dealer #1 New York Times bestselling author, the incomparable Michael Crichton (“One of the great storytellers of our age” —Newsday) takes to the high Caribbean seas for an irresistible adventure of swashbuckling pirates, lost treasure, sword fights, duplicity, and hair-breadth escapes in the New World.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY CHICAGO TRIBUNE • A thrilling adventure of danger and deep-sea diving, historic mystery and suspense, by the author of Shadow Divers Finding and identifying a pirate ship is the hardest thing to do under the sea. But two men—John Chatterton and John Mattera—are willing to risk everything to find the Golden Fleece, the ship of the infamous pirate Joseph Bannister. At large during the Golden Age of Piracy in the seventeenth century, Bannister should have been immortalized in the lore of the sea—his exploits more notorious than Blackbeard’s, more daring than Kidd’s. But his story, and his ship, have been lost to time. If Chatterton and Mattera succeed, they will make history—it will be just the second time ever that a pirate ship has been discovered and positively identified. Soon, however, they realize that cutting-edge technology and a willingness to lose everything aren’t enough to track down Bannister’s ship. They must travel the globe in search of historic documents and accounts of the great pirate’s exploits, face down dangerous rivals, battle the tides of nations and governments and experts. But it’s only when they learn to think and act like pirates—like Bannister—that they become able to go where no pirate hunters have gone before. Fast-paced and filled with suspense, fascinating characters, history, and adventure, Pirate Hunters is an unputdownable story that goes deep to discover truths and souls long believed lost. Praise for Pirate Hunters “You won’t want to put [it] down.”—Los Angeles Times “An exceptional adventure . . . Highly recommended to readers who delight in adventure, suspense, and the thrill of discovering history at their fingertips.”—Library Journal (starred review) “A terrific read . . . The book gallops along at a blistering pace, shifting us deftly between the seventeenth century and the present day.”—Diver “Nonfiction with the trademarks of a novel: the plots and subplots, the tension and suspense . . . [Kurson has] found gold.”—The Dallas Morning News “Rollicking . . . a fascinating [story] about the world of pirates, piracy, and priceless treasures.”—The Boston Globe “[Kurson’s] narration is just as engrossing as the subject.”—The Christian Science Monitor “A wild ride [and an] extraordinary adventure . . . Kurson’s own enthusiasm, combined with his copious research and an eye for detail, makes for one of the most mind-blowing pirate stories of recent memory, one that even the staunchest landlubber will have a hard time putting down.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) “The two contemporary pirate-ship seekers of Mr. Kurson’s narrative are as daring, intrepid, tough and talented as Blood and Sparrow—and Bannister. . . . As depicted by the author, they are real-life Hemingway heroes.”—The Wall Street Journal “[Kurson] takes his knowledge of the underwater world and applies it to the ‘Golden Age of Piracy’ . . . thrillingly detailing the highs and lows of chasing not just gold and silver but also history.”—Booklist “A great thriller full of tough guys and long odds . . . and: It’s all true.”—Lee Child
"By the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, treasure hunting had become a professional occupation, with a new breed of diver emerging. Much of their time was spent salvaging the wrecks of English and Dutch East-Indiamen carrying treasure to finance business in Asia. Ever since, men have been prepared to risk life and fortune in the search for underwater riches."--BOOK JACKET.
Cannibals. Conquistadors. Buccaneers. Pirates. Visions of cartoon characters dancing around a cauldron with an explorer tied inside. Balboa gazing on the Pacific Ocean. De Leon and the fountain of youth. Pizarro conquering the Incas. Henry Morgan, in red, drinking spiced rum. Smoke curling around Blackbeard as his cutlass slashes through the air. ... all children's tales that mean nothing. Today, we do not know who any of these people were, how they came to do what they did, or why they did it. The struggle for power, freedom, and wealth that shaped the Caribbean for two and a half centuries has, since John Barrie created Peter Pan, been relegated to the same literary section as Barney the Dinosaur; yet, underneath the soil of the modern world, the roots are still there. I started pulling them up on St. Croix, and the roots led to more roots, and more. Islands connected, nations connected, and legends came to life. Officially, St. Croix has flown seven flags over the last 500 years. Before the American flag and the Danebrog, the Spanish came for gold, the Dutch to trade, the English to raid, and the Knights of St. John to be in charge. The French built a colony only to watch it die of fever. During all of those years, Pirates, Conquistadors, Freebooters, Filibustiers, Corsairs, Buccaneers -whatever you call them- ruled the Caribbean and called St. Croix home, stealing at sea whether they had 'permission' to do so or not, and paying no attention at all to whatever European flag was flying. It is time to recognize our eighth flag. It was black. This is the untold story of St. Croix and a Caribbean long forgotten. Come. Sail with me.
"The first comprehensive, scholarly look at the artifactual evidence of real pirates, recovered at both shipwrecks and known pirate bases."--Archaeology Magazine "The reader unused to digesting professional publications will, pardon the pun, sail through this book as if it were a collection of novellas! Not only will he/she learn about the realities of trade in the Caribbean and politics in the time of pirates, but will be treated to the most interesting bits of ephemera such as an inventory of the legendary Captain Morgan''s estate. This is the definitive book on Pirates and the research being done to dispel all of the fables."--Dirtbrothers.org "Articles in X Marks the Spot cover a wide range of pirate wrecks and legacies from the Golden Age of Piracy, and give the reader a glimpse into what might be the reality of pirate life and death."--Archaeology.about.com "A serious attempt to determine, through examination of both terrestrial and shipwreck sites, if pirates left such unambiguous traces in the archaeological record that their presence can be recognized in future excavations. Fascinating!"--George F. Bass, founder, Institute of Nautical Archaeology "Piracy occupies an adaptive niche dating back to the very beginnings of maritime enterprise. This volume reclaims that predacious profession from the realm of the unusual and the unique and presents it afresh as a persistent subsystem of normal commerce."--Thomas N. Layton, San Jose State University "Piracy is one of the world''s oldest professions on the water. In this volume, a group of leading scholars literally digs into the subject to offer the first comprehensive archaeological look at pirates. . . . The definitive book on the archaeology of piracy."--James P. Delgado, executive director, Vancouver Maritime Museum "A most welcome contribution on the subject of piracy, one that has rarely been systematically addressed by archaeologists."--Barto Arnold, Institute of Nautical Archaeology, Texas A&M University This collection piques the imagination with historical evidence about the actual exploits of pirates as revealed in the archaeological record. The recent discovery of the wreck of Blackbeard''s Queen Anne''s Revenge, off Beaufort Inlet, North Carolina, has provoked scientists to ask, What is a pirate? Were pirates sea-going terrorists, lawless rogues who plundered, smuggled, and illegally transported slaves, or legitimate corsairs and privateers? Highlighting such pirate vessels as the Speaker, which sailed in the Indian Ocean, and the Whydah, the first pirate ship discovered in North America (near the tip of Cape Cod), the contributors analyze what constitutes a pirate ship and how it is different from a contemporary merchant or naval vessel. Examining excavated underwater "treasure sites" and terrestrial pirate lairs found off the coast of Madagascar, throughout the Caribbean, and within the United States, the authors explore the romanticized "Golden Age of Piracy," a period brimming with the real-life exploits of Captain Kidd, Blackbeard, Henry Morgan, and the "gentleman pirate" Jean Lafitte. This book will appeal to the general public, with special interest to anthropologists, archaeologists, historians, and divers.
A cruel pirate named Captain Crawfish has been raiding the small port of Fort Ridley. Our hero must embark on a journey to find a powerful ship and skilled crew to help him defeat Captain Crawfish and recover a map that will lead the islanders of Fort Ridley back to their treasure.
