From Booklist, 1998, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

Gr. 2-4. An opening double-page spread will help set these pirate stories in context, giving young readers a map and some background information on when and where the pirates lived. Each chapter after the opening spread is written in the first person and narrated by a different individual. The technique makes the stories more vivid; however, it may also confuse younger readers, who may not understand that the narrators change. The pirates described aren't jolly, fun-loving sailors but bloodthirsty robbers, many of whom met a gruesome end. Included are chapters on Henry Morgan, Billy the Kidd, and Blackbeard. As is true of others in the Eyewitness Readers series, color paintings and photos illustrate the text. Although this is catalogued as nonfiction, you may prefer to shelve it with the fiction. (Reviewed March 1, 1999)¾: Susan Dove Lempke.