Under the Black Flag is about a boy named William Bernard who was sent off by his father from Jamaica to England in 1716 to get his education, but on the way, the ship he was sailing on had an encounter with some pirates whose leader was Captain Teach, more commonly known as Blackbeard. William was taken prisoner by the pirates.

On the voyage, Captain Teach meets up with another pirate ship and invites its captain, Major Bonnet on board and lets someone from his crew take charge of Bonnet's boat. Major Bonnet has a son named Sam, whom he uses as a slave because Sam's mother was a black slave. Sam and Will very quickly become friends and dream about escaping together.

In the year William spends on the ship, he goes through many adventures with the pirates. William knows Captain Teach is vicious and inhuman, but he never does anything wrong to William, who he calls Princeling. William has mixed feelings about Blackbeard. He likes him, but he knows that Captain Teach is a bad man.

Finally, Captain Teach abandons William but he is rescued by Major Bonnet. Soon, William and Sam get their chance to escape. Bonnet has captured a small boat called a cutter, and one night, the two boys sneak away taking the cutter.

Using their navigational skills, Sam, William, and their new guest Costanza (who they rescue from a shipwrecked pirate ship) make it home to Jamaica.

The book was interesting, and there's a lot to learn from it about ships and history. I think it's a bit advanced for the average fifth grader and I recommend it for sixth graders and up. There was a pretty hard vocabulary and it would be hard to understand without an adult to explain some things.

Eli Schulman age 10

Palo Alto, California

C. S. Lewis, in his preface to "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," observed that as children we grow out of hearing fairy tales, but as an adult we can come back to them with fresh eyes and be enchanted in a different way. HCA stories have that amphibian quality of living above and below the supposed age limits.

I find it surprising that HCA writing in a minor language would be so popular, but he is a genius at writing fairy tales. The Grimm Boys just collected and edited the German fairy tales, but HCA was generating new and original fairy tales. I hope we don't sluff off this unique talent he had solely on the ground that he was writing to children. After all, how many naked Emperors have we seen? The comic Dilbert gets it's life blood from the fact that so many emperors can be smooth-talked by so many charlatans, and be sustained in their delusion by smarmy sycophants, and only brought to light by a child.

If children can understand this, why can't we adults?

On the printing-side of the book, I would like to see this in a hardbound, with durable paper, and not the thin and fragile newsprint. I am almost afraid to read this book since the opaper is so delicate!

"We are all going to die. H.C.Andersen knew this, he worked with it and he used it to show us all the beauty of life - the beauty of all life."

His stories are not only for children they are for everyone. The likes of H.C.Andersen can be found nowhere. If you want to discover the full grandeur of his genius you MUST read more than just his popular works. I would even urge you to go to Odense to learn Danish - Much is lost in translation. But although the English translation doesn't reach the heights of the original Danish text I still give it one of my 5 star sets. And don't think that it's a case of petty nationalism - you will find no other Danish writer that I'll grant 5 great ones. It is entertainment, philosphy and religion.

The story overall was really good. It's basically a fictional auto-biography. The main character is telling the story as if it were from his past. The plot was really good because there wasn't a main plot; it was just what happened to Saru during his life. For example, Saru was sleeping under a small shrine one day, and the next day he ends up meeting someone who will pay him to run an errand, then it tells about that he stopped an inn from being robbed. When you're reading it, you want to find out what's going to happen to him. Also, the main character is very realistic for that period of time. The book was set in feudal Japan, so Saru, a orphan who is very poor, is a very believable character. To illustrate, Saru must bow and stop every time he sees a Samurai, because if he doesn't than he mad e be kicked or even killed. So, overall, it was a really good book.

I would recommend this to most readers, however it needs to be someone who actually likes to read, otherwise they would probably get really bored. It's also good for people who are either interested in medieval times, or Japan in general.

Saru, which means monkey, is a smart young boy. He is agile, able to think on his feet, and comprehensive, three traits that aren't seen often enough. Saru is placed in the care of a wet nurse after his mother dies. His father dies later in the troubling times of 16th century Japan in a great battle. A great fire comes destroying the village, leaving Saru completely alone. He lives as a beggar in a little shrine on whatever scraps he can find. His cleverness also helps him know the ways of the world and the people around him. His many adventures lead him up to the greatest one where he helps a desperate samurai save his wife from the crazy emperor.

This book has filled me with much thoughts and interest about the Japanese culture and has prompted me to read more historical books such as this. I think that anyone who enjoys the book, The Phantom Tollbooth will enjoy this book as well.

If you do not see where this story, illustrated by Julie Downing, is going, then you simply have no imagination. But hopefully young readers will pay attention to the irony inherent in the bird brought back by each particular prince. Haugaard, who was born and educated in Copenhagen but now lives in West Cork, Ireland, is known primarily as the author of historical novels for teenagers ("The Samurai's Tale," "Hakon of Rogen's Saga") and the translator of "The Complete Fairy Tales and Stories" of Hans Christian Andersen. 'Prince Boghole' is a pleasant little tale, even if you happen to be neither Irish nor in need of picking the proper bird with which to win the hand of a princess.