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Always a rebel against the conventions of the eighteenth century which require her to be a meek and obedient young lady, a sixteen-year-old girl joins the pirate crew that captures the ship she is traveling on.
Hardcover
First published June 11, 1969
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About the author
Sally Watson
56 books35 followersWatson is a YA historical fiction writer, mostly about the British royals. She moved to England in 1964 and lived there for 24 years. Her most well-known works are parts of her English Family Tree series. Most of her books went out of print in the 1970s, many eventually reprinted by Image Cascade. She has also written YA novels set in ancient Egypt.
Her most recent book is The Angry Earth, an adult story of the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811.
Her most recent book is The Angry Earth, an adult story of the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
June 7, 2016
(this is my updated review of this book)
Jade by Sally Watson is one of those books you read as a child and remember forever. I’ve tracked down a hardcover copy (many of her books are out of print, which is unfortunate as they are much better than most of the YA crap being published these days) and re-read it and find it still as enjoyable as when I first read it as a pre-teen.
Melanie Lennox aka Jade is a young woman of sixteen living in early 18th century Williamsburg, Virginia. America isn’t America yet; the country is still an English colony. Slavery is a flourishing industry, to Jade’s horror. She is headstrong, rebellious and smart—and a complete pain in the ass for her family. She refuses to behave as society demands she must—docile and biddable. She also keeps trying to set the family slaves free. After hitting an obnoxious boy with a footstool and admitting to taking fencing lessons, her father decides to send her to Jamaica to live on her aunt and uncle’s sugar cane plantation. Jade, true to form, eventually gets into trouble there, too, but before her uncle can decide how to effectively tame her, yellow fever is diagnosed on the island and he sends Jade home, along with her two personal slaves, Joshua and Domino. When their ship is attacked by pirates, Jade’s life changes forever.
All girls should read this book. Forget about the Disney version of female empowerment, Jade is courageous, honest, smart and fair-minded. She is a feminist and an abolitionist, and struggles to define herself as an individual. There’s a great conversation between Jade and her father. He cannot understand what she is struggling against:
“Why can’t you be a well-behaved young lady instead of a little demon?”
“I’m me!” she told him passionately, her jade-green eyes darkening. “I have to be me; I’m not a rabbit, and I won’t turn into a rabbit, whatever you say!”
“I don’t want you to be a rabbit,” he told her wearily, for they had been over this a hundred times. “I want you to be a lady.”
“It’s the same thing, to you.”
“You know it isn’t.”
“It is! You want a meek little blob of sweet jelly who’ll agree with everything you say!” (6)
I love this exchange. He goes on to tell her that girls are meant to be docile and obey men because they are of the inferior sex. Her inability to understand her own inferiority is proof that she, is indeed, inferior. Jade shoots back: “And it’s not fair to make up a rule that anyone who disagrees with you is silly, and then use it to prove itself” (7).
One of the reasons I always liked Jade so much is her bluntness. She isn’t coy and she doesn’t pretend to be ignorant to make her life easier. She has principles and she sticks to them, even when that results in a whipping by her father and her uncle and being flogged by the captain of a ship. Her governess, while she shares Jade’s feelings regarding women’s unequal status in society, counsels Jade to go over and around the walls, not bash into them: “When will you learn, you silly girl, that you only bruise your head that way, and don’t bother the wall at all” (9). Jade is a wall-basher. I get it. Subtlety isn’t my strongest talent either.
Jade begins the novel fighting against anyone and everyone who doesn’t measure up to her ideals. When her latest outrageous behavior has her sent away from Williamsburg, Monsieur Maupin, her fencing instructor, tries to warn her of this before she leaves for Jamaica. “Remembering always, enfin, that you will sooner or later be presented with the reckoning, and you cannot then change your mind and say the price is too high, that you do not wish to pay. Remember to always demand more of yourself than anyone else, otherwise you become merely a tiresome rebellious young girl who wants that the whole world should change to suit her whim” (33). This is good advice for Jade because she already is a bit insufferable and judges everyone to her high moral values without recognizing that not everyone thinks the same as she. That’s the story of the book—Jade realizing how far she will go to hold onto the values she cherishes, even if the reckoning is possible death by hanging. There’s (another) great conversation between an older, wiser Jade and Rory, a character who holds the same values she does. Rory has just told Jade that he thinks God has just one Law, and that Law is everyone eventually reaps what they have sowed and that the whole purpose of life is learn just a bit courage and wisdom.
“What good will it do us to learn wisdom if we both hang?” she asked, more as a point of argument than anything else. Rory grinned. “You’ve got it backwards. What does it matter whether we hang, if we’ve learned a little wisdom?” (254)
Jade is an excellent, fun, well-paced book. It has morals and lessons to impart to the reader, but they’re disguised as a great adventure story. This book was published in 1969, but like all great books, the characters and story are still relevant and the battles they fight are familiar to 21st century readers. There are several characters in this book and Watson writes them all with clearly defined personalities. I particularly like Domino and Joshua, Jade’s two slaves. They are smarter than she is and will tell her when they think she’s wrong. At the end of the book, the author says that many of the characters and the adventures in the book are based on historical fact, and if that doesn’t make you want to read more about pirates, what will? Although this is a book written for “young readers,” I recommend it to adult readers too.
Jade by Sally Watson is one of those books you read as a child and remember forever. I’ve tracked down a hardcover copy (many of her books are out of print, which is unfortunate as they are much better than most of the YA crap being published these days) and re-read it and find it still as enjoyable as when I first read it as a pre-teen.
Melanie Lennox aka Jade is a young woman of sixteen living in early 18th century Williamsburg, Virginia. America isn’t America yet; the country is still an English colony. Slavery is a flourishing industry, to Jade’s horror. She is headstrong, rebellious and smart—and a complete pain in the ass for her family. She refuses to behave as society demands she must—docile and biddable. She also keeps trying to set the family slaves free. After hitting an obnoxious boy with a footstool and admitting to taking fencing lessons, her father decides to send her to Jamaica to live on her aunt and uncle’s sugar cane plantation. Jade, true to form, eventually gets into trouble there, too, but before her uncle can decide how to effectively tame her, yellow fever is diagnosed on the island and he sends Jade home, along with her two personal slaves, Joshua and Domino. When their ship is attacked by pirates, Jade’s life changes forever.
All girls should read this book. Forget about the Disney version of female empowerment, Jade is courageous, honest, smart and fair-minded. She is a feminist and an abolitionist, and struggles to define herself as an individual. There’s a great conversation between Jade and her father. He cannot understand what she is struggling against:
“Why can’t you be a well-behaved young lady instead of a little demon?”
“I’m me!” she told him passionately, her jade-green eyes darkening. “I have to be me; I’m not a rabbit, and I won’t turn into a rabbit, whatever you say!”
“I don’t want you to be a rabbit,” he told her wearily, for they had been over this a hundred times. “I want you to be a lady.”
“It’s the same thing, to you.”
“You know it isn’t.”
“It is! You want a meek little blob of sweet jelly who’ll agree with everything you say!” (6)
I love this exchange. He goes on to tell her that girls are meant to be docile and obey men because they are of the inferior sex. Her inability to understand her own inferiority is proof that she, is indeed, inferior. Jade shoots back: “And it’s not fair to make up a rule that anyone who disagrees with you is silly, and then use it to prove itself” (7).
One of the reasons I always liked Jade so much is her bluntness. She isn’t coy and she doesn’t pretend to be ignorant to make her life easier. She has principles and she sticks to them, even when that results in a whipping by her father and her uncle and being flogged by the captain of a ship. Her governess, while she shares Jade’s feelings regarding women’s unequal status in society, counsels Jade to go over and around the walls, not bash into them: “When will you learn, you silly girl, that you only bruise your head that way, and don’t bother the wall at all” (9). Jade is a wall-basher. I get it. Subtlety isn’t my strongest talent either.
Jade begins the novel fighting against anyone and everyone who doesn’t measure up to her ideals. When her latest outrageous behavior has her sent away from Williamsburg, Monsieur Maupin, her fencing instructor, tries to warn her of this before she leaves for Jamaica. “Remembering always, enfin, that you will sooner or later be presented with the reckoning, and you cannot then change your mind and say the price is too high, that you do not wish to pay. Remember to always demand more of yourself than anyone else, otherwise you become merely a tiresome rebellious young girl who wants that the whole world should change to suit her whim” (33). This is good advice for Jade because she already is a bit insufferable and judges everyone to her high moral values without recognizing that not everyone thinks the same as she. That’s the story of the book—Jade realizing how far she will go to hold onto the values she cherishes, even if the reckoning is possible death by hanging. There’s (another) great conversation between an older, wiser Jade and Rory, a character who holds the same values she does. Rory has just told Jade that he thinks God has just one Law, and that Law is everyone eventually reaps what they have sowed and that the whole purpose of life is learn just a bit courage and wisdom.
“What good will it do us to learn wisdom if we both hang?” she asked, more as a point of argument than anything else. Rory grinned. “You’ve got it backwards. What does it matter whether we hang, if we’ve learned a little wisdom?” (254)
Jade is an excellent, fun, well-paced book. It has morals and lessons to impart to the reader, but they’re disguised as a great adventure story. This book was published in 1969, but like all great books, the characters and story are still relevant and the battles they fight are familiar to 21st century readers. There are several characters in this book and Watson writes them all with clearly defined personalities. I particularly like Domino and Joshua, Jade’s two slaves. They are smarter than she is and will tell her when they think she’s wrong. At the end of the book, the author says that many of the characters and the adventures in the book are based on historical fact, and if that doesn’t make you want to read more about pirates, what will? Although this is a book written for “young readers,” I recommend it to adult readers too.
July 11, 2007
The heroine (Jade) lives in the early 1700s and is a force to be reckoned with. A protofeminist with the unlikely skill of fencing, she can't fit in with her family and truly doesn't feel she should have to.
As a misfit teen, she gave me someone to look up to and the book inspired me to learn to fence, learn to sail, and also to become interested in early feminists and abolitionists.
As a misfit teen, she gave me someone to look up to and the book inspired me to learn to fence, learn to sail, and also to become interested in early feminists and abolitionists.
March 27, 2023
Not really my thing, but the history note at the end was fascinating. It’s rather sad to think of Mary and Anne as little girls and the paths that led them to becoming pirates. Both of their parents disguised them as boys from a young age and forced them to play that role…I simply can’t imagine what strange childhoods they had. Mary was being disguised as her dead older brother so the grandmother would still send money to support him. These are actual historical events, which just go to make it all the more tragic.
I did enjoy how the book takes the main character Jade on a inward journey where she learns she was in a prideful place, and changes. It all felt so completely far fetched, (which the author acknowledged in her after-note) and some themes were just a bit too heavy handed for me…but I’m still glad I finished it as I enjoyed the final fourth more than the beginning.
And I did like some quotes from the book:
‘As for her family—Jade sighed and turned her head away from the shaft of moonlight. Love, yes—but between alien species, who thought in different languages and spoke through a thick glass wall, who were engaged in an endless war raged, as Jade always waged her battles, with no quarter asked or given.’
&
“But I suppose—“ she hesitated, tentatively offered her new idea fresh from trial. “Perhaps some people can’t help not being brave?”
But Rory wasn’t having any of that. “Then they ought to learn. That’s what life is, a school for courage.”
&
‘Jade, comparing Anne with the mob around them, was suddenly and fiercely glad to be where she was, against them all.’
&
“I don’t think God punishes us. I think He just lets His Law take its course. I think He has just one Law, that sooner or later, in this world or another, everybody reaps just exactly what he’s sowed. And I think the whole purpose of life is to learn some wisdom and courage from it.”
He looked slightly astonished at himself, as if he hadn’t really known he believed all that until he heard himself saying it. Jade, deeply impressed, digested it for a while.
“What good will it do us to learn wisdom if we both hang?” She asked, more as a point of argument than anything.
Rory grinned. “You’ve got it backwards. What does it matter whether we hang, if we’ve learned a little wisdom?”
I did enjoy how the book takes the main character Jade on a inward journey where she learns she was in a prideful place, and changes. It all felt so completely far fetched, (which the author acknowledged in her after-note) and some themes were just a bit too heavy handed for me…but I’m still glad I finished it as I enjoyed the final fourth more than the beginning.
And I did like some quotes from the book:
‘As for her family—Jade sighed and turned her head away from the shaft of moonlight. Love, yes—but between alien species, who thought in different languages and spoke through a thick glass wall, who were engaged in an endless war raged, as Jade always waged her battles, with no quarter asked or given.’
&
“But I suppose—“ she hesitated, tentatively offered her new idea fresh from trial. “Perhaps some people can’t help not being brave?”
But Rory wasn’t having any of that. “Then they ought to learn. That’s what life is, a school for courage.”
&
‘Jade, comparing Anne with the mob around them, was suddenly and fiercely glad to be where she was, against them all.’
&
“I don’t think God punishes us. I think He just lets His Law take its course. I think He has just one Law, that sooner or later, in this world or another, everybody reaps just exactly what he’s sowed. And I think the whole purpose of life is to learn some wisdom and courage from it.”
He looked slightly astonished at himself, as if he hadn’t really known he believed all that until he heard himself saying it. Jade, deeply impressed, digested it for a while.
“What good will it do us to learn wisdom if we both hang?” She asked, more as a point of argument than anything.
Rory grinned. “You’ve got it backwards. What does it matter whether we hang, if we’ve learned a little wisdom?”
June 16, 2022
A copy of this novel was not easy to find but I am glad I put in the effort. I had some slight knowledge of the exploits of Anne Bonney but the way Sally Watson took those historical facts, added few characters, and wove such a story is magical. I know that there is efforts being made to bring Sally Watson's works back into print and I hope it happens. What an incredible way to teach young people of the evils of slavery than a book such as this one. How I wish that the Jade character was real. I adore the thought of a pirate out there, back in the day, dedicated to thwarting slavers based in Africa itself. There are difficult moments in this novel and I also appreciate that in a book written for young people. Watson does not sugar coat things and that is appropriate when dealing with such topics. That being said, she is not graphic in her descriptions either. Just very matter of fact. I really cannot say enough about how much I enjoyed this novel and I look forward to reading more of Sally Watson's work.
A few quotes:
"Masters here in Jamaica treat field slaves worse than animals," he pointed out. "They're cheaper, you see. It's better business just to work them to death and buy new ones then to treat them decent. It's - " He stopped and then started again. "I can understand men killing for hate, Missy Lanie; this is just not caring, and not even knowing there's anything to care about. That scares me."
"If some people can't help not being brave then they ought to learn. That's what life is, a school for courage. The only defeat is surrender. The Iroquois tribes are like that. Brave and honorable and fair; much more than we are, for all we call them savages. They respect human dignity - women's as well as men's - and they keep their promises. That's why we'll wipe them out in the end. We have no honor or scruples or humanity."
"But that, Jade suddenly realized was precisely Jack's trouble. He'd never had any pride; only conceit, which never yet produced courage."
"Shut up and stop fighting God. In the first place it's no use, and in the second placeI don't think He's fighting back, and in the third place I think it's really yourself you're fighting in the first place. Whose good option really matters to you, anyway?"
"Mine!" she sputtered.
"Aye. And quite right. And your own good opinion says you have to try to do something about the awful way humans treat humans. But, could it be you and I have taken ourselves a bit too seriously? Could it be we've even been a bit conceited, going out to reform the world and not stopping to think that we might need to reform ourselves first?"
Jade blazed. "Well, I like that! If we -" She stopped. She frowned. She thought about it. "Oh," she said doubtfully, and looked several questions at Rory. "Do you suppose we're being punished for that Greek thing in their plays? The one that meant arrogant pride, and always came to a fall?" It was a shattering thought.
"I don't know anything about Greek, but I don't think God punishes us. I think He just lets His Law take its course. It think He has just one Law, that sooner or later, in this world or another, everybody reaps just exactly what he's sowed. And I think the whole purpose of life is to learn some wisdom and courage from it."
A few quotes:
"Masters here in Jamaica treat field slaves worse than animals," he pointed out. "They're cheaper, you see. It's better business just to work them to death and buy new ones then to treat them decent. It's - " He stopped and then started again. "I can understand men killing for hate, Missy Lanie; this is just not caring, and not even knowing there's anything to care about. That scares me."
"If some people can't help not being brave then they ought to learn. That's what life is, a school for courage. The only defeat is surrender. The Iroquois tribes are like that. Brave and honorable and fair; much more than we are, for all we call them savages. They respect human dignity - women's as well as men's - and they keep their promises. That's why we'll wipe them out in the end. We have no honor or scruples or humanity."
"But that, Jade suddenly realized was precisely Jack's trouble. He'd never had any pride; only conceit, which never yet produced courage."
"Shut up and stop fighting God. In the first place it's no use, and in the second placeI don't think He's fighting back, and in the third place I think it's really yourself you're fighting in the first place. Whose good option really matters to you, anyway?"
"Mine!" she sputtered.
"Aye. And quite right. And your own good opinion says you have to try to do something about the awful way humans treat humans. But, could it be you and I have taken ourselves a bit too seriously? Could it be we've even been a bit conceited, going out to reform the world and not stopping to think that we might need to reform ourselves first?"
Jade blazed. "Well, I like that! If we -" She stopped. She frowned. She thought about it. "Oh," she said doubtfully, and looked several questions at Rory. "Do you suppose we're being punished for that Greek thing in their plays? The one that meant arrogant pride, and always came to a fall?" It was a shattering thought.
"I don't know anything about Greek, but I don't think God punishes us. I think He just lets His Law take its course. It think He has just one Law, that sooner or later, in this world or another, everybody reaps just exactly what he's sowed. And I think the whole purpose of life is to learn some wisdom and courage from it."
December 2, 2017
This was a favorite book of mine when I was young, and it did not disappoint on re-reading. Melanie "Jade" Lennox is a rebel. In early 18th century Virginia, she cannot understand why some people — think slaves and women — have no rights, but are expected to submit to their fathers, husbands, owners. So she is constantly in trouble with her father, who feels he has no choice but to whip her, though this makes no difference. So her parents she her to Jamaica, to her aunt and uncle. Her uncle has a reputation for breaking horses and slaves, so perhaps he can tame Jade. While she enjoys the adventure, she still refuses to submit. But when yellow fever comes to the island, she is sent home, only to have the ship she is traveling on attacked by pirates, just as she is being punished for attempting to free the slaves, who were the ship's cargo. Jade freely accepts the choice to join the pirates, but despite the freedoms this offers, she still is not entirely happy, as she doesn't feel all the ships they attack deserve it. Can Jade ever find a happy future for herself, in a world dominated by men? Excellent book. Wonderful characterization. Based on real female pirates! Highly recommended.
April 1, 2007
I am so happy that Image Cascade has re-released this and many other out of print Sally Watson novels. This was one of my favorites in high school and I enjoyed re-reading it as an adult.
I love Jade's strength and independence, which you see right in the opening scene where she takes a whipping from her father without showing any fear. I also love the friendships she has with other like-minded people: Monsieur Maupin, her fencing master, Domino, and the scowling, beligerent Rory MacDonald.
Sally Watson's writing was occasionally awkward, but her stories and characters are always so engaging that you don't care.
I love Jade's strength and independence, which you see right in the opening scene where she takes a whipping from her father without showing any fear. I also love the friendships she has with other like-minded people: Monsieur Maupin, her fencing master, Domino, and the scowling, beligerent Rory MacDonald.
Sally Watson's writing was occasionally awkward, but her stories and characters are always so engaging that you don't care.
August 12, 2010
Another of Sally Watson's historical books that have an adolescent girl as the main character. This one is about a young girl from a wealthy family in pre-Revolutionary Virginia. It deals with slavery, freedom of choice, and of course a little romance. Also, has pirates 8o) Lots of history, but it also has a great story.
March 19, 2017
I have been looking for this book for years. I read it and reread it back in ... 4th grade? And then we moved and I could never remember the author's name. I am so in love. Thanks, Goodreads!
August 13, 2025
of course Kelpie's grandson would feature prominently in my other favorite Sally Watson book lmaoao that side of the family rules apparently. speaking of the family tree that is SO CONVOLUTED holy moly
this and The Hornet's Nest are the two of this series that are distinctly more about justice and the rights and equality of all mankind. Feminism and abolition feature most prominently here. Jade and I are very very unlike but I loved her and Rory and the others. Throwing the Quartet into Anne Bonney and Mary Read's stories is a lot of fun -- very well done historically -- I am not really in a mood to expostulate on the matter of how this book deals with Jade's fight for freedom for all but I do think I just really really like these books LMAO and Jade, furious and always holding her own and standing up for what she believes.
Hysterical amount of romance in this one tbh but also historically accurate so let's go I guess?
Some really fantastic quotes from this one of Jade learning more than just bravado and recklessness.
“I don’t think God punishes us. I think He just lets His Law take its course. I think He has just one Law, that sooner or later, in this world or another, everybody reaps just exactly what he’s sowed. And I think the whole purpose of life is to learn some wisdom and courage from it.” He looked slightly astonished at himself, as if he hadn’t really known he believed all that until he heard himself saying it. Jade, deeply impressed, digested it for a while.
“What good will it do us to learn wisdom if we both hang?” she asked, more as a point of argument than anything.
Rory grinned. “You’ve got it backwards. What does it matter whether we hang, if we’ve learned a little wisdom?”
this and The Hornet's Nest are the two of this series that are distinctly more about justice and the rights and equality of all mankind. Feminism and abolition feature most prominently here. Jade and I are very very unlike but I loved her and Rory and the others. Throwing the Quartet into Anne Bonney and Mary Read's stories is a lot of fun -- very well done historically -- I am not really in a mood to expostulate on the matter of how this book deals with Jade's fight for freedom for all but I do think I just really really like these books LMAO and Jade, furious and always holding her own and standing up for what she believes.
Hysterical amount of romance in this one tbh but also historically accurate so let's go I guess?
Some really fantastic quotes from this one of Jade learning more than just bravado and recklessness.
“I don’t think God punishes us. I think He just lets His Law take its course. I think He has just one Law, that sooner or later, in this world or another, everybody reaps just exactly what he’s sowed. And I think the whole purpose of life is to learn some wisdom and courage from it.” He looked slightly astonished at himself, as if he hadn’t really known he believed all that until he heard himself saying it. Jade, deeply impressed, digested it for a while.
“What good will it do us to learn wisdom if we both hang?” she asked, more as a point of argument than anything.
Rory grinned. “You’ve got it backwards. What does it matter whether we hang, if we’ve learned a little wisdom?”
January 6, 2019
The other day, while looking for something else, I found this book. I think I read this when I was 13 and it has stuck with me all this time.
It is the story of Jade, a 16-year-old girl living in Williamsburg, Virginnia in the early 18th century. She is a problematic child. She does not conform readily to the dictates of colonial society. Her exasperated father eventually sends her to live with an aunt and uncle on their sugar plantation in Barbados.
While there Jade continues to resist and rebel. Especially against slavery. When yellow fever strikes, her uncle sends her home aboard a slave ship. Jade tries to free the slaves, is caught and flogged as punishment . While the crew is diverted by this, the ship is captured by pirates.
Guess what Jade does? She joins the pirates of course.
I have to reread this, but to be able to remember this book so well and so fondly after all these years, means it definitely deserves 5 stars. This may be a middle grade book, but I wouldn't let that stop you from reading it.
It is the story of Jade, a 16-year-old girl living in Williamsburg, Virginnia in the early 18th century. She is a problematic child. She does not conform readily to the dictates of colonial society. Her exasperated father eventually sends her to live with an aunt and uncle on their sugar plantation in Barbados.
While there Jade continues to resist and rebel. Especially against slavery. When yellow fever strikes, her uncle sends her home aboard a slave ship. Jade tries to free the slaves, is caught and flogged as punishment . While the crew is diverted by this, the ship is captured by pirates.
Guess what Jade does? She joins the pirates of course.
I have to reread this, but to be able to remember this book so well and so fondly after all these years, means it definitely deserves 5 stars. This may be a middle grade book, but I wouldn't let that stop you from reading it.
January 7, 2020
A book I read and loved as a young teen, which I'd tried to find in bookshops in vain many times since then, which I was reminded of when I was tagged in a 'ten most influential books'-meme and went to look for again - and which just then popped up on Amazon available for the Kindle!
Reading it again now, I was a bit surprised by how short it was - it had loomed so large in my younger self's imagination that I'd thought there'd been much more of it. Apart from that, I still had the same reaction as back then: thought then and now that the main character was an insufferable, arrogant bitch in the first third or so of the book, but loved the real pirates. This time round, though, I noticed more that the self-righteous intolerance Jade starts out with is actually meant to be annoying - a 'too much', to give her something she can learn by the end of the novel to make her a more admirable fighter for freedom and equality.
Reading it again now, I was a bit surprised by how short it was - it had loomed so large in my younger self's imagination that I'd thought there'd been much more of it. Apart from that, I still had the same reaction as back then: thought then and now that the main character was an insufferable, arrogant bitch in the first third or so of the book, but loved the real pirates. This time round, though, I noticed more that the self-righteous intolerance Jade starts out with is actually meant to be annoying - a 'too much', to give her something she can learn by the end of the novel to make her a more admirable fighter for freedom and equality.
May 1, 2024
This book was a favorite from my youth and it resurfaced in my life. What a book for a young girl. Jade is an unconventional, spunky teenager who becomes a pirate!
The book did have themes which aren't socially acceptable now, but she rallied for freedom of slaves, and women's rights which was shocking for the times of the story.
I felt this line is just as true now and it was in 1969 when it was written "...the whole purpose of life is to learn some wisdom and courage from it."
The book did have themes which aren't socially acceptable now, but she rallied for freedom of slaves, and women's rights which was shocking for the times of the story.
I felt this line is just as true now and it was in 1969 when it was written "...the whole purpose of life is to learn some wisdom and courage from it."
January 1, 2018
I came across Sally Watson somehow, and have managed to find a few of her books (very hard to find!) and enjoy the books I've read (3) a lot. I think Jade might by my favorite so far. She is a great character and I love the inclusion of pirates. A fun book that also makes you think.
March 7, 2020
Fun YA read, this book is old, but the story is still good. A young woman rebelling against the social norms, she is not someone as an example of obeying your parents. The history of pirating is good and a nice intro into that part of history as well as slavery.
January 12, 2022
I enjoyed reading this book when I was young, and recently enjoyed reading it again, over 50 years later.
April 22, 2022
A young girl sailing to the American colonies is recruited into a pirate crew.
August 9, 2024
Jade is a great book! about colonial America, pirates and a very independent and adventurous Young lady!
Sally Watson was my favorite author from 12- 20. Her stories are historically accurate. She created her own family tree of characters, that she puts into her stories and because they aren’t real, she can make them be and say anything she wants! I learned a lot of accurate history both in America and Europe.
Sally Watson was my favorite author from 12- 20. Her stories are historically accurate. She created her own family tree of characters, that she puts into her stories and because they aren’t real, she can make them be and say anything she wants! I learned a lot of accurate history both in America and Europe.
April 21, 2008
This was my least favorite Sally Watson book, but considering how awesome all her books are, it still gets four stars.
Jade is sometimes just a very hard girl to get along with, and her sense of utter righteousness and refusing to kill, etc., gets on my nerves. But hey, it's about pirates!
Jade is sometimes just a very hard girl to get along with, and her sense of utter righteousness and refusing to kill, etc., gets on my nerves. But hey, it's about pirates!
July 16, 2011
This book is one of my favorites. Most historical fiction books are boring (in my opinion), but this one is different. The story of rebellious Jade, fighting the system, is inspiring and makes for very good reading. This is a book that, once you start reading it, you won't be able to put down.
January 20, 2024
Loved this book for years
This has been one of my favorite since childhood. Draws in the reader quickly, is well written, and just an all around good book. Jade is a book that allows the reader to imagine exactly what it would be like to be in her shoes.
This has been one of my favorite since childhood. Draws in the reader quickly, is well written, and just an all around good book. Jade is a book that allows the reader to imagine exactly what it would be like to be in her shoes.
January 15, 2011
My Favorite Book!
December 24, 2011
almost done with this- reading with my almost 11 yr old-- this one is much more intense than others by Watson. so good.
January 12, 2015
I read this often.
October 16, 2015
See my review here:
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2015...
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2015...
August 25, 2015
This was on of my childhood favorites revisited. :)
April 24, 2023
This is my long-time favorite book by Sally Watson. I first read it in 1969 or thereabouts and I have loved it ever since!
May 5, 2012
This book made me want to be a pirate. I fell in love with the lifestyle and she hated slavery!!
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