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Lackbeard
All they wanted was their forever homes. But when a motley group of orphans steals an ancient artifact from the Golden Age of Piracy and a treasure map drawn in blood, what they get is an epic adventure.
172 pages, Paperback
Published December 20, 2018
9 people want to read
About the author
Cody B. Stewart
3 books3 followersCody B. Stewart was born in the Adirondacks, in Upstate New York. His love of stories began in those mountains as he vanquished trolls, fought in the American Revolution and discovered his latent mutant powers. Stories have continued to consume his life, but he now plucks them out of his head and puts them down on paper in the form of novels and comic books.
He left the Adirondacks to grow into a man, did so, and has since returned with a wonderfully supportive wife and two sons.
He left the Adirondacks to grow into a man, did so, and has since returned with a wonderfully supportive wife and two sons.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 18, 2018
Carter Humbolt is eleven years old and a die-hard pirates fan--the folklore, sword, and yo ho ho kind of pirates. He walks the walk and talks the talk. Now he just needs the treasure. He talks his older brother Brad into being a reluctant buccaneer and off they go to heist an artifact from a local museum. Unfortunately, he and his cohorts are caught, but he and his brother do not have parents to take them home and deliver appropriate discipline. They are returned to the orphanage where it is determined that they will be split up.
But then new orphanage escapees Carter and his crew steal a ketch and set out for Eleuthera. (Yes, it's a real island in the Bahamas.) Carter found a map, you see. The kids confront real pirates and "heave to" during a storm but manage to reach the island and are soon in search of treasure. (In the meantime, I began to roll this flick through my mind, and could picture Cruella de Vil in the part of the orphanage school mistress.)
The sailing adventures and island misadventures keep you engaged. The characters are varied and add a believable texture to the well-plotted story. The antagonists are badder than bad, bent on returning the orphans back into "the system,"
"We rich?" "No, just dirty."
This little story keeps you absorbed right to conclusion--it's short. My only problem was with the edit misses which I assume will be cleaned by the time this little ditty releases. Park your disbelief and remember those years in which you could crawl into your head and be the hero and find the treasure of your dreams. Recommended for anyone who would enjoy a fantasy trip to hunt for hidden treasure--and read it to your children. I was given this download by the publisher and NetGalley and greatly appreciated the opportunity to read and review. 3.5/5
See my full review and many others: https://rosepointpublishing.com/2018/...
But then new orphanage escapees Carter and his crew steal a ketch and set out for Eleuthera. (Yes, it's a real island in the Bahamas.) Carter found a map, you see. The kids confront real pirates and "heave to" during a storm but manage to reach the island and are soon in search of treasure. (In the meantime, I began to roll this flick through my mind, and could picture Cruella de Vil in the part of the orphanage school mistress.)
The sailing adventures and island misadventures keep you engaged. The characters are varied and add a believable texture to the well-plotted story. The antagonists are badder than bad, bent on returning the orphans back into "the system,"
"We rich?" "No, just dirty."
This little story keeps you absorbed right to conclusion--it's short. My only problem was with the edit misses which I assume will be cleaned by the time this little ditty releases. Park your disbelief and remember those years in which you could crawl into your head and be the hero and find the treasure of your dreams. Recommended for anyone who would enjoy a fantasy trip to hunt for hidden treasure--and read it to your children. I was given this download by the publisher and NetGalley and greatly appreciated the opportunity to read and review. 3.5/5
See my full review and many others: https://rosepointpublishing.com/2018/...
December 25, 2018
Carter Humbolt is a pirate...maybe only in his imagination, but he does have the soul of a pirate and hungers for adventure.
Carter is only 11 years old, and lives at the St. John County Children's Orphanage with his brother Brad. They have lived there since Carter was very young, and their mother had died from illness.
Along with Carter and Brad, there are Darla Roberts; her mother runs the orphanage, Louis, Yvette, and Marcus. These kids make up Carter's crew when they take off on their adventure on the high seas in search of treasure. And a madcap adventure it turns out to be.
At the beginning of the book, Carter, Brad and Darla are attempting to break in to the St. Augustine Pirate and Treasure Museum. Carter is after a book on pirates. They manage to bypass the alarm system and nab the book, but are greeted by the police when they get outside. Seems there was another system they didn't know of.
The kids are returned to the orphanage and Ms. Roberts decides to separate the boys. Brad will go to a military academy and Carter will be shipped to a foster family on the west coast. This sets in motion a play for the boys to escape and go exploring for treasure. There turns out to be a little hitch in the play when Louis, Yvette and Marcus stow away in the escape van, unbeknownst to Carter and Brad.
They manage to steal...I mean appropriate... a yacht and sail off. Carter had also stolen an ancient treasure map and that was their guide to their treasure hunt. Along the way they are confronted by two real pirates! These are current day pirates, and they mean business.
It is a crazy, quick moving, humourous tale. Along the way they kids find that even though they are not with their biological family, they are their own family together. Working together to achieve a goal, the excitement of adventure, being on the open sea and feeling free. This all comes together to make a fun read for adults and kids!
I received this from a giveaway on Library Thing.
Carter is only 11 years old, and lives at the St. John County Children's Orphanage with his brother Brad. They have lived there since Carter was very young, and their mother had died from illness.
Along with Carter and Brad, there are Darla Roberts; her mother runs the orphanage, Louis, Yvette, and Marcus. These kids make up Carter's crew when they take off on their adventure on the high seas in search of treasure. And a madcap adventure it turns out to be.
At the beginning of the book, Carter, Brad and Darla are attempting to break in to the St. Augustine Pirate and Treasure Museum. Carter is after a book on pirates. They manage to bypass the alarm system and nab the book, but are greeted by the police when they get outside. Seems there was another system they didn't know of.
The kids are returned to the orphanage and Ms. Roberts decides to separate the boys. Brad will go to a military academy and Carter will be shipped to a foster family on the west coast. This sets in motion a play for the boys to escape and go exploring for treasure. There turns out to be a little hitch in the play when Louis, Yvette and Marcus stow away in the escape van, unbeknownst to Carter and Brad.
They manage to steal...I mean appropriate... a yacht and sail off. Carter had also stolen an ancient treasure map and that was their guide to their treasure hunt. Along the way they are confronted by two real pirates! These are current day pirates, and they mean business.
It is a crazy, quick moving, humourous tale. Along the way they kids find that even though they are not with their biological family, they are their own family together. Working together to achieve a goal, the excitement of adventure, being on the open sea and feeling free. This all comes together to make a fun read for adults and kids!
I received this from a giveaway on Library Thing.
January 9, 2019
Oh boy. Not sure how to judge this book I got through Librarything's Early Reviewers.
I assume the audience is "young adult" based on the font size and length. The protagonists are teens, 11-17 yrs I think. They are orphans living in an orphanage ruled by a woman who invokes Carol Burnett's Miss Hannigan from Annie. There are other villians, too, all caricatures and over the top in their stereotypes. The protagonists also fit typecast: the adventurer, the cautious, the chef, the caregiver, the techie, the hip, the token gay character. All the boxes are checked.
The plot jumps from unbelievable scene to sappy scene to unbelievable. It starts with the kids breaking in to a museum, successfully stealing the treasure map and despite getting caught they get off with a warning. The rest of the book follows them having an adventure only a dreamer could imagine, with every scrape concluding with a perfect escape.
The whole book comes off like a Disney Channel made-for-tv movie, complete with characters expressing feelings they'd always hidden in a eye-rolling sappiness.
The only reason I kept reading was because the writing was reasonably good, despite its unbelievable plot. It is relatively witty, and has decent allusion, humour, and pith. The vocabulary is a bit larger than the average 11 yr old could read, so perhaps this is something for the parent to read with their child.
Not my thing, but I am sure there are people who think it a fun story.
I assume the audience is "young adult" based on the font size and length. The protagonists are teens, 11-17 yrs I think. They are orphans living in an orphanage ruled by a woman who invokes Carol Burnett's Miss Hannigan from Annie. There are other villians, too, all caricatures and over the top in their stereotypes. The protagonists also fit typecast: the adventurer, the cautious, the chef, the caregiver, the techie, the hip, the token gay character. All the boxes are checked.
The plot jumps from unbelievable scene to sappy scene to unbelievable. It starts with the kids breaking in to a museum, successfully stealing the treasure map and despite getting caught they get off with a warning. The rest of the book follows them having an adventure only a dreamer could imagine, with every scrape concluding with a perfect escape.
The whole book comes off like a Disney Channel made-for-tv movie, complete with characters expressing feelings they'd always hidden in a eye-rolling sappiness.
The only reason I kept reading was because the writing was reasonably good, despite its unbelievable plot. It is relatively witty, and has decent allusion, humour, and pith. The vocabulary is a bit larger than the average 11 yr old could read, so perhaps this is something for the parent to read with their child.
Not my thing, but I am sure there are people who think it a fun story.
January 28, 2019
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book to review through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers.
I think this book would have benefited from a little more revision. There were several typos, and the story itself was pretty familiar. It seems to blend certain graphic novel styles (three chapters begin with the word "Meanwhile . . .") with the plot of "The Goonies." It's fun, but not the most inventive fun. There are some attempts to diversify the cast with Yvette (a girl from Cuba) Marcus (a "black kid) and Louis (a boy who is homosexual), but the attempts are pretty clumsy. The authors teeter on the brink of stereotype and plunge right off it occasionally, like when Louis calls Marcus "girl." The dialogue is similarly stilted. When a rich older woman enters the story, she introduces herself as "the richest woman in the country." Perhaps the authors are making subtext text on the behalf of younger readers, but I think they should lend their readers a bit more credit.
The plot makes a high-seas caper plausible for a group of orphans, and I think my 8-year-old nephew would have great fun with it. The deeper story of the relationship between Carter and his brother Brad is sweet. Their fights and reconciliation always felt a bit rushed, though. This story was a minimally satisfying pirate tale that could have been edited and fleshed out more, but I'll probably still give it to my nephew for its brevity and entertainment value.
I think this book would have benefited from a little more revision. There were several typos, and the story itself was pretty familiar. It seems to blend certain graphic novel styles (three chapters begin with the word "Meanwhile . . .") with the plot of "The Goonies." It's fun, but not the most inventive fun. There are some attempts to diversify the cast with Yvette (a girl from Cuba) Marcus (a "black kid) and Louis (a boy who is homosexual), but the attempts are pretty clumsy. The authors teeter on the brink of stereotype and plunge right off it occasionally, like when Louis calls Marcus "girl." The dialogue is similarly stilted. When a rich older woman enters the story, she introduces herself as "the richest woman in the country." Perhaps the authors are making subtext text on the behalf of younger readers, but I think they should lend their readers a bit more credit.
The plot makes a high-seas caper plausible for a group of orphans, and I think my 8-year-old nephew would have great fun with it. The deeper story of the relationship between Carter and his brother Brad is sweet. Their fights and reconciliation always felt a bit rushed, though. This story was a minimally satisfying pirate tale that could have been edited and fleshed out more, but I'll probably still give it to my nephew for its brevity and entertainment value.
January 15, 2019
I received Lackbeard via LibraryThing in return for an honest review:
Lackbeard is short, very short.
When the novel arrived and I glanced at the book I was very excited because I have been working with youth around the demographic age of the novel and I knew that they would be happy to have a new book to read. However, I was surprised at how actually short the novel was. In fact, it is at best a novella published as a full book. At 160 pages in large type and much space, it reads like an 80 page story (about 3 hours to start and finish). Having said that, the story is still fun.
Lackbeard is the story of two boys in the foster system who will not be separated. As a result, they engage in an insane journey to find a hidden pirate treasure that brings to mind the film that essentially killed Geena Davis career, Cutthroat Island, and a hint of Spielberg's Goonies. Unfortunately, though, none of the characters really grow. As a result, the novel does not have a real moral impact and the story falls rather flat. Those who are bad guys are bad, those who are obviously misunderstood are misunderstood, and those who are heroic are heroic. Consequently, while the novel isn't bad, it also isn't really all that good, but at such a short length it doesn't take up too much time - just too much paper.
Lackbeard is short, very short.
When the novel arrived and I glanced at the book I was very excited because I have been working with youth around the demographic age of the novel and I knew that they would be happy to have a new book to read. However, I was surprised at how actually short the novel was. In fact, it is at best a novella published as a full book. At 160 pages in large type and much space, it reads like an 80 page story (about 3 hours to start and finish). Having said that, the story is still fun.
Lackbeard is the story of two boys in the foster system who will not be separated. As a result, they engage in an insane journey to find a hidden pirate treasure that brings to mind the film that essentially killed Geena Davis career, Cutthroat Island, and a hint of Spielberg's Goonies. Unfortunately, though, none of the characters really grow. As a result, the novel does not have a real moral impact and the story falls rather flat. Those who are bad guys are bad, those who are obviously misunderstood are misunderstood, and those who are heroic are heroic. Consequently, while the novel isn't bad, it also isn't really all that good, but at such a short length it doesn't take up too much time - just too much paper.
January 22, 2019
I received this book as part of Librarything's early readers program, in exchange for an honest review. This puts me in an awkward spot, because, if I'm being honest, I have absolutely nothing nice to say about this book. The characters are a buncha stereotypes so cardboard as to be offensive (yay for having a gay kid! Why... why does the gay kid have a buncha hello kitty stuff. Oh, he's also a good cook, oh, he also shrieks a lot and doesn't want to get dirty, oh, he's also carrying hello kitty brand tanning oil through the jungle....) Actually, the hello kitty brand tanning oil was the last straw. I gave up on reading this book at page 99. In addition to the poor gay stereotype, there was also a Cuban stereotype and a black "urban" kid stereotype; all played not for diversity but for laughs (these were not funny). The main characters are equally impossible to care about, and the story itself, well... suffice to say that I stopped reading the book halfway through because I do not even vaguely care what happens next.
There was some development in the relationship between the brothers. It wasn't a lot, but it stood out in the midst of the rest of this book.
There was some development in the relationship between the brothers. It wasn't a lot, but it stood out in the midst of the rest of this book.
December 28, 2018
Two orphan brothers break into a pirate museum and steal a treasure map. They go on an adventure and meet allies and foes alike.
This book was kind of rushed, and it focuses on more than one person so you don't get a feel for every character. For a MG book it is fine, just a little lacking.
This book was kind of rushed, and it focuses on more than one person so you don't get a feel for every character. For a MG book it is fine, just a little lacking.
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December 2, 2018*I received this book for review from Netgalley, which has no effect on my opinion of this book.
I had so much fun reading this book, it was just one giant adventure. I also loved the characters, the friendships, and relationships. If you want a light, adventurous read, I highly recommend this book.
I had so much fun reading this book, it was just one giant adventure. I also loved the characters, the friendships, and relationships. If you want a light, adventurous read, I highly recommend this book.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews