What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

So..I've been looking for this book for about...5-6 years now, closest I've found to it is The Dark Frigate, but the name doesn't sound familiar.

Anyways, it's about a boy who works at a tavern with a friend/relative (I think), and gets captured by a pirate/smuggler crew. He ends up sailing with them, and eventually, the part I remember most, is this boy is asked to swim across this channel to this other ship and light it on fire. I'm fairly certain the ending is he gets back home, and runs into an evil man he came across on his journey in a tavern and attacks him...that's about all I can remember unfortunately, it's driving me insane what the book is called, I'd love to read it again, I do remember it was a good read.

Anyways...I need to go see if 'The Dark Frigate' is it, and if it is, well, I'll have solved my own mystery.

Water Rat by Marnie Laird, 2001

Summary:In 1748 fourteen-year-old Matt, orphaned, crippled, teased by other boys and abused by the man he works for, seeks refuge with a surgeon's family and finds that he is well-equipped to help protect them from pirates on Delaware Bay.

I don't think that was it...sounds like a good read though. I remember something about Boston, not sure if it was in the title or not.

I forgot to mention the age range for this, which I believe to be about middle-school range (that's when I read it at least), maybe upper elementary. So if I read it in middle school, that would put it at being published sometime before 2002.

This is an adult read, but it's worth a shot.

The Requiem Shark by Nicholas Griffin, 1999

Summary:
A young man forced into apprenticeship with a former slave trader who now captains a pirate vessel tells the vivid story of his life sailing to the ends of the Earth during the eighteenth century.

Library Journal Review:

Bartholomew ("Black Bart") Roberts was a notorious and successful pirate in the 18th century's so-called Golden Age of Piracy. This first novel tells Roberts's tale through young Willliam Williams, his fiddler and clerk. Williams is forced to join Roberts's crew, but he soon discovers that he is well suited to a life of crime. However hopeless, violent, and brutal, the life of a pirate was far better than what many Englishmen endured lawfully in the early 1700s. Williams yearns to be accepted by Roberts and his crew and soon proves himself as a pirate. Griffin has an ear for the language and a feel for a life that could only end suddenly and tragically. A well-crafted and interesting read; for historical fiction collections.--Robert Conroy, Warren, MI Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Captain Grey by Avi, 2000

Summary: Eleven-year-old Kevin Cartwright is surprised when his father announces that he is moving him and his sister from Philadelphia to the peace and quiet of New Jersey. But the New Jersey of 1783 is filled with secret traps and hidden dangers and Kevin is kidnapped by Captain Grey and his pirates soon after the family begins their journey.

man...both of those reads sound good....will have to try them soon...not sure if any of them are it though.

upon reading about captain grey more...that may be the book...not sure..I know I remember reading some books by Avi when I was younger, and remember liking them.

Lauren, After you've check it out, please return and let us know if it is the book. Thanks. If not, I'm sure members will keep looking.

Here's Avi's page on Fantastic Fiction:

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/a/avi/

Could it be Sid Fleischman's The Ghost in the Noonday Sun? http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13...

Well...sorry it took me so long to get back to everyone, I had to order Captain Grey online to see if it was the book. Unfortnately it was not, though it is a good read. While waiting for the book to come in, I tried to remember more details from the book.

I'm starting to remember a second boy in the book somewhere, and now I'm about 90% certain the two boys started out working in a tavern in New England, then they were captured.

I know it's not the Ghost in the Noonday Sun...for some reason I keep thinking about Boston when I think of this book, perhaps it's in the title or that's where the boy(s) are taken from. I think I remember the cover had a ship on fire on the cover, can't be certain of that though, as book covers change...hopefully my bits and pieces of descriptions will trigger something in someone's mind and they'll know the book.

Horrendo's Curse by Anna Fienberg, 2002.

Summary: Cursed at birth with a spell that renders him to speak only kind words, Horrendo finds life difficult in his rough-and-tough village, yet when he and other boys are kidnapped and turned into slaves aboard a pirate ship, Horrendo turns his curse into a blessing in his clever plot to escape.

Jim Davis High-Sea Adventure, A by John Masefield, 2002.

Summary: Jim Davis is a twelve-year-old boy whose life takes a terrifying turn when he stumbles upon a ring of bloodthirsty pirates.

The Pirate's Son by Geraldine McCaughrean, 1998.

Summary: Pirates were meat and potatoes to Nathan Gull. He read and thought about them constantly. So when his father dies and Nathan is tossed out of Graylake School with no prospects, he and his mousy sister, Maud, accept the offer of Tamo White, the son of a real pirate, to travel home with him to Madagascar. Many adventures await them, starting with the treachery of Tamo's guardian, who tries to steal his treasure and sell Maud into white slavery. In a land Tamo calls paradise, Nathan and Maud will find danger, magic, and murder along with finding themselves. (Audience: 8th grade and up) -- Description by: Tom Reynolds.

Luke on the High Seas Luke on the High Seas by Bonnie Pryor, 2000.

Summary: In 1850, Luke and Toby set sail from Boston to California on a voyage featuring shady characters, a story of a lost gold mine, and a cabin boy with a secret.

Angel's Command by Brian Jaques, 2003. If you click on this link and then look at the other editions in the top right corner, there are covers with a ship on fire.

Summary:
Ben and Ned, a boy and dog gifted with eternal youth and the ability to communicate with one another nonverbally, encounter pirates on the high seas and rescue a kidnapped prince from a band of gypsy thieves.

Those seem like good reads, but none of the titles ring a bell...I know for certain this book had no magic in it (besides the pirates being superstitious I think), and I'm starting to think that the pirate was a famous one in it, maybe Sir Francis Drake...but last night, I spent roughly two hours looking through tons of books with famous pirates in them and none of them were the ones.

Ring of the Slave Prince by Bjarne Reuter, 2003.

Summary: Fourteen-year-old Tom O'Connor, a poor, adventurous, charming liar who lives with his mother and half-sister at a tavern on the island of Nevis in 1639, rescues a slave from drowning, learns he is a prince, and brings him home to Cape Verde, hoping for agrand reward.

This seems a little too obvious and though i've seen the movie i've never read the book so maybe i'm really far off...but isn't that the story of treasure island?

Nope. I do know it's not that. We read that before I read this book...and it started out in the new world, whereas treasure island I think started off in england.

Part of this sounds like The Ship Between the Worlds by Julia Golding, although the boy here was taken from his own room, and not a tavern.

I agree, it sounds similar to Treasure Island, but different in some fundamental ways. However, I discovered that Stevenson's book was so iconic that several authors attempted to continue the tale, including Roger L Johnson in "Dead Man's Chest : The Sequel to Treasure Island" published in 2001, which is set in Colonial America and has historical figures like John Paul Jones etc: similar to elements you mention. So maybe it is that, or one of the numerous other associated novels mentioned in Wikipedia for Treasure Island. Good luck.

Dead Man's Chest looks insanely familiar. I'll have to try that one. That may be it, the cover is what got me...I know I've seen it before, plus when I read this book, it was right around the time I read Treasure Island for class.

Lauren, Can't wait to hear from you if it's the book.

bump - I shall PM Lauren if she doesn't respond before someone else does....

Might be a long shot...could it be The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox? Definitely middle school literature involving a kidnapped boy on a slave ship.

I've sent her a PM, but she's not been active since Nov. 2011. Possibly solved is a good enough folder for it, though we could do Abandoned...

Lauren's profile says she was last active in 2011 so I'm moving this to Abandoned. (From Possibly Solved.)