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Goth Girl #2.5

Goth Girl and the Pirate Queen: World Book Day Edition 2015

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Packed with gorgeous black-and-white illustrations, Goth Girl and the Pirate Queen is a World Book Day book from Chris Riddell, award-winning author of the Ottoline series.When Ada travels to the seaside resort of Brighton on holiday, she is very excited to meet leading followers of fashion Lady Vivienne Dashwood and her rival, the fashionable shepherd, Beau Peeps. They are there preparing for World Frock Night - a lavish ball where everyone dresses up in their finest costumes to compete for the grand prize.Ada has been given money by her father to buy a spectacular outfit for the ball, and she's excited to be in with a chance of winning the prize. But nothing goes to plan, and becoming the belle of the ball will prove to be Ada's biggest challenge yet . . . Enjoy this mini adventure into the life of Ada Goth, and continue the fun with the Costa Children's Book Award-winning first book in the series, Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse.

98 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 12, 2015

23 people are currently reading
866 people want to read

About the author

Chris Riddell

377 books1,025 followers
Chris Riddell was born in Cape Town, South Africa, where his father was an Anglican priest and a member of the ANC. The family moved to England in 1963, when Riddell was one year old, and he spent his childhood in a number of different locations, as his father moved between parishes. Both of Riddell's parents continued to be active in the anti-apartheid movement.

Chris Riddell is an internationally acclaimed writer and illustrator whose many awards include the Nestlé Gold Award and two Kate Greenaway Medals—the most prestigious prize for illustration in the UK. He is the creator of more than one hundred books for all ages, including the immensely popular series the Edge Chronicles and his latest chapter book series, starring the irrepressible Ottoline Brown, which School Library Journal called "exceptional." Chris lives in Brighton, England, with his wife and three children where he invents his amazing characters in a very tidy shed in his yard.

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5 stars
218 (33%)
4 stars
233 (35%)
3 stars
169 (25%)
2 stars
24 (3%)
1 star
9 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 101 reviews
Profile Image for Kimberley doruyter.
893 reviews96 followers
March 2, 2016
so sad it's a short one, but it was great.
will re-read in future!


and now i have re-read it.
Profile Image for [ J o ].
1,823 reviews552 followers
January 6, 2017
My first book read in over a month thanks to the Olympics. Read whilst waiting in the dentist (and I'm not even getting a check up). Very lovely, as per, with the best illustrations I've ever known to be honest. Full review to follow.




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Profile Image for Nerdish Mum.
403 reviews34 followers
December 24, 2015
I'm ashamed to admit that I have never read any Chris Riddell before, so this was my first encounter with him. The story was wonderfully silly and the drawings matched perfectly. I also enjoyed the references to popular culture that possibly only an adult reading it would recognise. The only thing I wasn't keen on was the constant "advertisements" for other books in the series in the foot notes. Overall though a quick and fun read.
Profile Image for Lin Let.
70 reviews1 follower
July 23, 2016
Booktubeathon Book 2- book by one of your favourite authors!

This is definitely the best World Book Day Book I have ever read. I loved the short story, the illustrations (as usual) and the fashionably funny frocks Riddell created.
Profile Image for Liz Kittencat.
409 reviews116 followers
April 27, 2020
Disfruto enormemente las ilustraciones, las referencias historias / literarias y los juegos de palabras.
Profile Image for Sanja_Sanjalica.
993 reviews
May 25, 2017
Short and sweet, there isn't much of a story as in the previous ones, just vivid characters and references up to wazoo, but enjoyable and fun. Looking forward to other books in the series. I would like to know more about the Pirate Queen, I expected more of her regarding she is in the title. Still, it was fun.
Profile Image for Buchjunkies.
183 reviews
August 4, 2016
Inhalt:
Ada Goth erhält die Chance zum legendären 'World Frock Day Ball' in Brighton zu gehen. Ihre Gouvernante Lady George erhält eine Einladung um vor einer Jury ihr aufwendigstes Dress zu präsentieren. Um Ada eine Freude zu machen und auch, weil sie sonst ganz allein in Ghastly-Gorm Hall wäre, erhält sie die Erlaubnis von ihrem Vater Lord Goth, Lady George zu begleiten. Ada ist aufgeregt. Sie war noch nie so weit weg und hat gehört, das Brighton am Wasser liegt. Darauf freut sie sich besonders.
Nach der anstrengenden Fahrt finden sich die beiden Damen in Brighton wieder und werden von Tristram Shandygentleman empfangen. In seinem großen Haus findet sich ein kleines Zimmerchen für Ada zum nächtigen. Am nächsten Morgen ist sie früh wach und beschließt, in die Stadt zu gehen um sich ein neues Dress zu kaufen. Aber als erstes zieht es sie zum Wasser. Wie salzig es riecht und wie schön es aussieht. Ada ist begeistert und hält ihre Füße ins Wasser. Da wird sie von einer Frau angesprochen die sie dazu überredet doch nicht bloß mit den Füßen ins Wasser zu gehen, sondern richtig zu schwimmen. Ada hat keine Chance und landet kurz darauf mit einem Sack bekleidet im Wasser. Sie liebt es und genießt das kühle Nass.

Als sie zurück zum Ufer schwimmt ist der komische Wagen samt Frau weg, nur ihre Kleidung liegt am Strand. Ohne Kabine traut sich Ada aber nicht sich umzuziehen und macht sich so auf den Weg zum nächsten Laden. Unterwegs trifft sie Tall Nell, eine ehemalige Piratenkönigin und erfährt spannendes von ihr. Leider kann sie ihr bei einem Outfit nicht helfen und so macht sich Ada auf zu den beiden besten Ausstatter der Stadt - Lady Vivienne Dashwood und Jean-Paul Goatee. Aus dem ersten wird sie kurzer Hand rausgeworfen, aber im zweiten wird sie freundlich empfangen und sogar fündig. Als sie jedoch bezahlen will, fällt ihr auf, dass sie ihr Geld verloren hat und muss unverrichteter Dinge gehen. Wie soll sie denn jetzt bloß ein Dress für den Wettbewerb finden?

Meinung:
'Goth Girl and the Pirate Queen' ist nur eine kurze Novelle, die sich zwischen 'Goth Girl and the Fete Worse Than Death / Ada von Goth und das Vollmondfest' und 'Goth Girl and the Wuthering Fright' ansiedelt. Die junge Ada Goth ist ohne ihren Vater und ihre Freunde unterwegs und lernt dennoch allerhand neue Leute kennen. Das beschauliche Brighton hat es ihr angetan und auch wenn nicht jeder dort im Ort ihr wohlgesonnen ist, schlägt sie sich tapfer.
Der Ball ist eine faszinierende Veranstaltung und die vielen Bilder in diesem Buch lassen den Leser tief in die Geschichte eintauchen. Ich liebe ja die Bilder von Chris Riddell und halte mich gern an den aufwendigeren auf, in denen man allerhand finden kann.

Die Geschichte ist trotz ihrer Kürze sehr unterhaltsam und abgeschlossen. Das ist eine Kunst, die nicht jeder beherrscht, Chris Riddell allerdings schon.
Das Buch ist zum 'World Book Day' am 23.04.2015 erschienen und somit leider nur gebraucht zu finden. Wer die ersten beiden Bücher der Goth Girl-Reihe mochte, wird sich dieses allerdings sicherlich nicht entgehen lassen wollen.
Profile Image for Mehsi.
15.1k reviews456 followers
February 13, 2016
This was a delightful little read!

Ada is back, and this time she is in for a fashionable time! I really like Ada, and I was delighted to see her again. And this time she is out of her mansion and into a new part of the world. Once again, Ada shows her wits a few times, especially during the later parts of the story. Loved how she found new friends and helped them out with their careers.

The book is (once again) full with puns. Various fashion designers pop up in this book, but their names are just a bit different.

I really liked Lady George and her dogs. She was real dedicated to get them inside that party, even had her dress made so there would be room to hide her dogs.

The last part was fun, there was a fashion show, and I just loved the outfits. Some where really extravagant, while others seemed pretty normal.

The illustrations were gorgeous and there were a lot of them in this book, even more than the previous books. I loved it! I love Chris Riddell's art, he really draws the most pretty things.

One thing that left me wondering. What happened to the money? I know it was lost/stolen/whatever, but it felt a bit sad we will never know if Ada found it, or that someone else found it, or that those people from that bathmachine stole it. It is a mystery, and it is also strange that a children's book leaves something important like that aside. Normally things will be found or something will be done. Now it seems like Ada didn't care about losing so much money.

Oh, Oh, I forgot! In this book we find out that there will be a new Goth Girl coming this year! I was really fangirling/book shimmying when I read about it. I can't wait!

I would really recommend this to the fans of the Goth Girl series. While this book has various footnotes about recurring or talked about characters or events, I would strongly recommend reading this book after you read the first 2 books. Otherwise you might just miss stuff or won't get the references entirely.

Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/
64 reviews4 followers
May 16, 2015
I think that this will have to be one of the rare occassions in which I rate a book 5/5. My main reason for this is because, despite the scene of the book changing location, the humour and play on words is still present.

Riddell continued to amaze me and it had a very enjoyable plotline, with, at the end, Ada continueing to show how selfless, but headstrong she is. It was a shorter ook, so obviously it was never going to be as detailed, but the author still managed to convey an interesting, but funny message across to the reader throughout the book.

Overall, this was an exceptionally funny book whicch I enjoyed a lot.
Profile Image for Bar.
40 reviews21 followers
February 11, 2018
Chris Riddell is one of my favorite illustrators, and his children books are always so lovely and entertaining! In the Goth Girl series he often relies on puns and word games and it's so fun to read! In this little booklet, you can definitely see these games with a lot of characters' names, and I thought it was hilarious! Will definitely continue reading more by him in the future.

Profile Image for Holly.
132 reviews3 followers
January 30, 2017
Still really enjoying this series just wish this one could have been a full length book because I liked the concept
Profile Image for Aimée.
Author 5 books8 followers
October 28, 2020
Zwischen Band 2 und 3 erschien ein World-Book-Day-Special, in dem Ada einen Ball in Brighton besuchen darf. Dafür braucht sie natürlich ein ordentliches Outfit, doch das gestaltet sich etwas schwieriger. Die arme wird ausgeraubt, geht im eiskalten Meer baden und trifft schließlich auf die Titelgeberin...

Die Fußnoten werden diesmal von einem putzigen flauschigen Schaf geschrieben, das zwanghaft Hinweise auf Shakespeare-Stücke einbaut. Außerdem erscheinen 3 unfassbar fette Hunde, die noch nicht gegründete Stadt Hove, der nicht fertig gebaute Brighton Palace sowie eine Vielzahl skurriler Nebencharaktere, deren Namen einem verdächtig bekannt vorkommen (Kubla Khan't? Jean-Paul Goatee?) - also alles wie immer, nur nicht daheim.


Unterhaltsam und kurzweilig (nur 80 Seiten und viele davon von Riddell bebildert), die perfekte Ablenkung, während ich auf meine Lieferung signierter Riddells warte :)


"to use my changing room you really have to want to change!"
Profile Image for Dyah.
1,110 reviews63 followers
January 31, 2021
Goth Girl and the Pirate Queen is the side story of Goth Girl series. The first book is Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse, and the second is Goth Girl and a Fete Worse than Death. Although I jump straight to the this book, I have no difficulty in enjoying it. There are brief footnotes which explain things that refer to the previous two books.
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Goth Girl is about the adventures of Ada Goth, a young and easy-going girl. In this book, Ada goes to the seaside to attend a ball + some kind of gown competition. But alas, she lost the money to buy a gown! What will she wear now?
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The story is very short and simple, and absurd, with a lot of gorgeous illustrations from Chris Riddell. I love it very much, but I'm not sure yet if this series is worth collecting.
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Must read if you're a fan of Chris Riddell
Profile Image for Lucy Jane.
509 reviews3 followers
December 20, 2019
A great short story that managed to keep the charm of the longer books even though the length did mean that the story was less enjoyable than the full length books in the series. Still a great book and a good way to get a child into the Goth Girl series (or reading in general) as the length and pictures make it very accessible.
Profile Image for Aimee.
320 reviews11 followers
October 23, 2022
A little silly and nonsensical. May make more sense if you’ve read the other books but without them for context it doesn’t stand alone well
Profile Image for Lola Clarke.
19 reviews
January 3, 2023
Really enjoyed these, I would have loved them more if I read them when I was younger. I really like the fact that they show younger people that it is okay to be yourself and unique.
Profile Image for Chardonay Willard.
311 reviews13 followers
August 11, 2024
I really like the illustrations in this little book. The story itself was great aswell!
Profile Image for Bill.
2,006 reviews108 followers
October 7, 2022
Goth Girl and the Pirate Queen by Chris Riddell was written for World Book Day 8 March 2015. In this cute tale, Ada Goth goes to Brighton with Lady George and her three dalmatians to attend the World Frock Day Ball. Her father, Lord Goth, gives her a cheque for 20 guineas to buy a frock so she can enter the contest but she loses the cheque. How will Ada get a frock for the ball? Who will win?

It's an entertaining story and half the fun is the wonderful artwork within. Riddell provides wonderful drawings throughout this short but lovely story that adds to the richness and texture of the story itself. Don't expect deep, thoughtfulness. It's a young adult adventure with neat characters and lots of fun packed into 80 short pages. You'll meet fashion designers like Lady Vivienne Dashwood and Jean-Paul Goatee and see all sorts of weird and wonderful fashion creations. Lots of fun and a quick, entertaining read. I love this series. (3 stars)
Profile Image for Robin.
189 reviews
September 21, 2016
Such a cute little book! It is filled with Chris Riddell's drawings, has a sweet and simple story, and Chris is quite clever about naming his "famous" local characters such as the competitive fashion designers Mrs. Vivienne Dashwood and Mr. Jean-Paul Goatee. Ha!

The story centers on Ada Goth who visits the seaside town of Brighton for World Frock Day. As she goes about finding a suitable frock, she encounters locals and has quite the day of adventure. This is an enjoyable and quick read, and I can imagine children and teens enjoying it as well.

The book is a special creation for World Book Day 2015, and there are sidebar notes along the way, explaining other characters who are in other Chris Riddell Goth Girl stories. Shameless self-promotion? Perhaps. But having a few lines explaining some side characters along with which of the Goth Girl books you can find them if you're interested, does not take away from the book, even though these are mentioned but not included in this story.

Overall, I give this 3.5 stars. I enjoyed it for what it is - a taste of Goth Girl - and would like to read one of the longer Goth Girl books.
Profile Image for Roger.
145 reviews2 followers
December 8, 2017
This is a novella initially given away for free for World Book Day in 2015. This time around Ada submerges herself in the world of fashion, encountering thinly disguised versions of contemporary fashion designers (Vivienne Westwood, Coco Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld etc.), in Regency Brighton. There's very little story in this one. Riddell seems to have used it as an opportunity to promote the previous two GG books via regular side-panel references. Luckily the illustrations make up for any deficiencies in the story.
Profile Image for Antonia.
235 reviews1 follower
December 31, 2017
It seems a bit cheeky to count this as a whole book as it only is a short story and with many illustrations to boot...

I loved it. I loved the quirky illustrations, the nice little story and all those references - a veritable fireworks of modern pop culture and historical references. The setting is somewhat 18th century-ish (the long one) which is already something I like and then the pot-shots at modern designers, references to other literary works... Very very entertaining. I haven't read the Goth Girl books yet so that will be on my list next. A lovely little teaser I guess.
Profile Image for Karina.
637 reviews62 followers
March 6, 2015
This book made me hoot with laughter so much I reckon all the rest of the staff (and some customers) in the shop must have thought me insane. Whip smart and hilariously funny in a silly, punny sort of way - as someone who is an addict of regency and gothic fiction, I enjoyed a lot of the jokes tremendously. I wonder how many 10 year olds get them, though? Some, I'll bet!
Profile Image for Kristina.
1,117 reviews233 followers
March 21, 2015
I LOVED IT! The artwork is just bomb! The moment I saw the gorgeous cover, I fell in love! The drawings inside are just as amazing. The story is also really nice. Ada - the main character - is so fantastically created that there is not a single thing I don't like about her.
I will most definitely buy the rest of the series :)
Profile Image for Keiran Thegreat.
162 reviews4 followers
April 11, 2015
Chris Riddell tells a great story, even this really short book is packed full of good things. Beautiful illustrations, jokes of all kinds (puns, funny incidents, parody...), likeable characters and a fun storyline. The setting of Regency Brighton is very well realised and (parody aside) pretty accurate.
A small but fine addition to the adventures of Ada Goth.
Profile Image for Sarah Ann.
254 reviews3 followers
March 23, 2015
A fun little read that has definitely bumped the Goth Girl series up my 'need to buy' list!

Even if this book only contained Chris Riddell's amazing illustrations and the brilliant footnotes that prove you can relate pretty much everything to Shakespeare, I would still have given it four stars.
Profile Image for Aurumora.
549 reviews20 followers
August 30, 2016
It is a short story about Fashion. I like the book and will read more about Ada Goth. It es very odd. There are names like "COCA CHANNEL" (the designer). The drawings are very beautiful. They have so many details. Chris Riddell can draw and write and that is fantastic together.
Profile Image for Amy.
940 reviews2 followers
July 8, 2017
Goth Girl by the Sea

Such a cute, simple story...easy for school aged children to pic up and read. The stories are wonderful, the characters are great! Any child who loves to read would enjoy this series!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 101 reviews

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