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Daisy and the Pirates
J. T. Allen, author
Children/Young Adult; General Fiction (including literary and historical); (Market)
Eleven-year-old Daisy Tannenbaum, tomboy extraordinaire, doesn’t want to go back to school. So, when she ends up on an isolated island in the Indian Ocean after her family is accidentally kidnapped by Malay pirates, she’s totally psyched. For her, this is paradise. Her family, however, is utterly unprepared to cope with the primitive conditions on the island. Her parents are barely on speaking terms, her sister wants to crush Daisy’s skull with a rock, and a grad student Daisy’s dad may or may not have had a thing with ends up washed ashore with them. Nothing ruins paradise like having your stupid family around. But that doesn't stop Daisy from having the time of her life finding buried treasure, fighting off sharks, pirates, and scorpion attacks, and rescuing her family despite herself. Move over Swiss Family Robinson, Daisy Tannenbaum has swung into action in this first in a series of adventure stories that will be enjoyed by readers young and old.
Reviews
Eleven-year-old Daisy Tannenbaum must outwit a group of pirates while keeping her family safe in this enjoyable series opener. Daisy is excited to be spending the summer in Thailand with her archeology professor father, who is excavating a Roman ship, even though her annoying older sister, Clymene, is there, too. After Daisy’s mother arrives to pick up the girls, a transportation strike forces the three of them to join her father and grad assistant Helen on a steamer ship transporting the artifact he’s dug up. Then pirates hijack the ship, a storm sinks it, and the Tannenbaums wash ashore on a small island. Daisy is steadfast and intelligent, and her casual first-person narration quickly establishes a rapport with readers. Daisy’s parents get little development as characters, though, and Clymene is portrayed as a typical selfish older sibling, one who can get surprisingly violent. Despite the dangers presented by brushes with pirates and survival in the wild, the story never feels all that tense, but readers should enjoy watching Daisy’s quick thinking in action during her paradise adventure. A sequel, Daisy in Exile, is also available. Ages 8–12. (BookLife)
