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The Dread Crew: Pirates of the Backwoods
The pirates of the Dread Crew, ruthless junk hunters, are on the rampage through the Maritime woods. On their trail is a boy pirate tracker Eric Stewart, who gathers mounting evidence of their hooliganism until one day their clue-laden path of destruction completely disappears. Little does Eric know that the rumbling, stinking pirates are much, much closer than he thinks. This paperback edition includes eight pages of new content including a pirate glossary and praise pages. Check out dreadcrew.com for lots more additional content! This book is recommended for antsy boys who long for glory, for spritely girls inclined to reach out for adventure, and for good-humored grown-ups who like the smack of Limburger and devils's club sandwiches with a dash of junebug pepper. The Dread Pirates of the Backwoods contains things disgusting, rude, repulsive and crush-like in nature. It also includes the most gigantic party ever seen, a rampaging woodship, random explosions, a prison, an escape, inventions, blackberry sploosh and many, many secrets as well as unexplained stinks.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published October 30, 2009
2 people are currently reading
73 people want to read
About the author
Kate Inglis
6 books53 followersKate Inglis is an award-winning author who writes books about pirates and giants and mermaids and all the stars and all the ways we love each other. Most recently, frogs in a teeny-tiny folk band. Sometimes for kids and sometimes grown-ups, Kate’s novels, non-fiction, and poetry are infused with the salt, woodsmoke, and fresh air of the North Atlantic coast.
“Her writing style is taut, crisp and, in places, overpoweringly beautiful. Inglis conveys wisdom and deep emotion at the same time.” —CM Magazine
“Notes for the Everlost is the most beautifully written book I have read in ages. This book is great company for terrible times.” —Elizabeth McCracken, author of Thunderstruck & Other Stories
“Kate Inglis has a humor akin to Roald Dahl at his most satirically anti-establishment, and evocative language that echoes Goldman’s The Princess Bride.” — Lois Rubin Gross
“Kate Inglis is a wise, flexible, and ultimately hopeful guide through the inhospitable country of mourning. She is also fierce—fiercely angry, fiercely funny and, most of all, fiercely loving.” —Katherine Ashenburg, author of The Mourner’s Dance
“Notes for the Everlost is a delicate, playful handbook for people who feel they might disappear into grief forever. Valuable to anyone facing bereavement or supporting a loved one through it.” —Times Literary Supplement
“Her writing style is taut, crisp and, in places, overpoweringly beautiful. Inglis conveys wisdom and deep emotion at the same time.” —CM Magazine
“Notes for the Everlost is the most beautifully written book I have read in ages. This book is great company for terrible times.” —Elizabeth McCracken, author of Thunderstruck & Other Stories
“Kate Inglis has a humor akin to Roald Dahl at his most satirically anti-establishment, and evocative language that echoes Goldman’s The Princess Bride.” — Lois Rubin Gross
“Kate Inglis is a wise, flexible, and ultimately hopeful guide through the inhospitable country of mourning. She is also fierce—fiercely angry, fiercely funny and, most of all, fiercely loving.” —Katherine Ashenburg, author of The Mourner’s Dance
“Notes for the Everlost is a delicate, playful handbook for people who feel they might disappear into grief forever. Valuable to anyone facing bereavement or supporting a loved one through it.” —Times Literary Supplement
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
September 2, 2010
I like this book because the dread crew [a group of land pirates]learn that to get things you want you don't have to steal them you can just be nice and make friends
January 24, 2010
This was a book that sang and snorted, lilted and tripped, spun in a circle with joy and a great slosh of sluggy mud. It was just such a book. Unexpected, inventive and full of delicious words.
'The Dread Crew' is the tale of a boy, a pirate tracker, and the crew of junk-hunting pirates who hurtle through the Nova Scotia backwoods in an enormous wooden pirate ship, the barrow. Kate Inglis is a marvelous writer; she paints the landscape of her beloved homeland with fearsome talent; she crafts sentences in such a way that you know she imagined just such a mother as you, reading aloud in a dim upstairs bedroom, as boys peek over the top of the bunkbed railing. It is a book that is fun to read, and must have been fun to imagine; a world in which pirates are scrappers and junk is gold. Instead of plunder, refurbishment; instead of murder, muck. The conception of an international union of junk pirates is rollicking fun.
My criticism of this book is that it is too little. There are so many characters, a whole pirate crew, the tracker and his family, more: they are painted in moments of lovely, dripping detail, but I am left with just the idea. I want more roundness, more flow, between people and scenes; I want to get more caught up in the crash of the story through the pages and not have to stumble, stop, start again. I know that this world is whole and sparkles with sharp edges and curvy lines in the author's head; not enough of that makes it onto the page.
What is here has my hungry, literally and figuratively. The book should be 300 pages, or more, and I delight in the food throughout this book; I want to tramp through Kate's own backwoods for garlic scapes and nettles, and bake rye bread, and sprinkle it all with june bug pepper. this book, like so few, has a taste, and it is slimy and spicy and brilliantly foraged and delicious. I look very much forward to another book, one that is longer and rounder and just as bright.
'The Dread Crew' is the tale of a boy, a pirate tracker, and the crew of junk-hunting pirates who hurtle through the Nova Scotia backwoods in an enormous wooden pirate ship, the barrow. Kate Inglis is a marvelous writer; she paints the landscape of her beloved homeland with fearsome talent; she crafts sentences in such a way that you know she imagined just such a mother as you, reading aloud in a dim upstairs bedroom, as boys peek over the top of the bunkbed railing. It is a book that is fun to read, and must have been fun to imagine; a world in which pirates are scrappers and junk is gold. Instead of plunder, refurbishment; instead of murder, muck. The conception of an international union of junk pirates is rollicking fun.
My criticism of this book is that it is too little. There are so many characters, a whole pirate crew, the tracker and his family, more: they are painted in moments of lovely, dripping detail, but I am left with just the idea. I want more roundness, more flow, between people and scenes; I want to get more caught up in the crash of the story through the pages and not have to stumble, stop, start again. I know that this world is whole and sparkles with sharp edges and curvy lines in the author's head; not enough of that makes it onto the page.
What is here has my hungry, literally and figuratively. The book should be 300 pages, or more, and I delight in the food throughout this book; I want to tramp through Kate's own backwoods for garlic scapes and nettles, and bake rye bread, and sprinkle it all with june bug pepper. this book, like so few, has a taste, and it is slimy and spicy and brilliantly foraged and delicious. I look very much forward to another book, one that is longer and rounder and just as bright.
November 13, 2012
Reviewed by Kira M for TeensReadToo.com
In the Maritime Woods, there is a band of pirates called the Dread Crew. They are ruthless junk hunters.
When they go to raid Joe, the neighborhood junk collector/tinker, the pirates meet their match. Awed by the man's massive horde of junk and niceties, the pirates recruit Joe to their team. Hoping to have some adventures and get the pirates to turn over a new leaf, Joe joins the band.
Hot on their trail, however, is a young pirate hunter who is intent on finding the crew. Little does the boy know that his old friend, Joe, has become one of them. When the trail of clues runs cold for Eric, and his friend Joe starts acting suspicious, will Eric put two and two together? Will Joe succeed in changing the pirates' ways?
A fun fantasy story perfect for antsy, spirited young readers. Filled with mystery and adventure, the characters are memorable and amusing and the story is entertaining. Readers who like pirates, fantasy, and action-adventure will enjoy reading THE DREAD CREW.
In the Maritime Woods, there is a band of pirates called the Dread Crew. They are ruthless junk hunters.
When they go to raid Joe, the neighborhood junk collector/tinker, the pirates meet their match. Awed by the man's massive horde of junk and niceties, the pirates recruit Joe to their team. Hoping to have some adventures and get the pirates to turn over a new leaf, Joe joins the band.
Hot on their trail, however, is a young pirate hunter who is intent on finding the crew. Little does the boy know that his old friend, Joe, has become one of them. When the trail of clues runs cold for Eric, and his friend Joe starts acting suspicious, will Eric put two and two together? Will Joe succeed in changing the pirates' ways?
A fun fantasy story perfect for antsy, spirited young readers. Filled with mystery and adventure, the characters are memorable and amusing and the story is entertaining. Readers who like pirates, fantasy, and action-adventure will enjoy reading THE DREAD CREW.
January 17, 2010
Open this book, and be dropped into a world of adventurers and junk-purveyers, of the sweet high stink of old gumboots and slug-trail wine.
Kate Inglis has created a yarn to stand the tests of time and many readings - clever enough to snare youngsters but enthrall adults, and leave them thinking during that next walk in the woods
"Was that....a pirate?"
Kate Inglis has created a yarn to stand the tests of time and many readings - clever enough to snare youngsters but enthrall adults, and leave them thinking during that next walk in the woods
"Was that....a pirate?"
October 26, 2010
I can't say it better than Jim said it here, but I will say that Kate Inglis is a ridiculously talented prose writer, and I love that she doesn't shy from bringing such intricate language to a book for children. Underneath the delicious prose and the completely disgusting portrayal of the roughest band of pirates you'll ever know, the two messages at the core of The Dread Crew are two of my favorites in life:
1. You'll catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.
2. It's the chaos, the unexpected events in life that keep you on your toes. (The very last line of the book makes this last point so much more breathtakingly, but I didn't want to dampen the punch of reading that line by reprinting it here.)
Kate's book is a wonderful thing. Give it to your fart-loving, in-the-grass-rolling, mud-pie-making, insect-poking, junk-collecting niece/nephew/cousin. Or, hey, keep it for yourself. You could do with a little pirate chaos to keep you on your toes.
1. You'll catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.
2. It's the chaos, the unexpected events in life that keep you on your toes. (The very last line of the book makes this last point so much more breathtakingly, but I didn't want to dampen the punch of reading that line by reprinting it here.)
Kate's book is a wonderful thing. Give it to your fart-loving, in-the-grass-rolling, mud-pie-making, insect-poking, junk-collecting niece/nephew/cousin. Or, hey, keep it for yourself. You could do with a little pirate chaos to keep you on your toes.
November 28, 2009
Loved this one. As a first novel, there are a few spots that could be smoothed out, and a few necessary commas are missing. But the greatness of this book can be summed up from a paragraph from page 41: "Jo told the captain the secret of his life, the thing that every single one of his adventures had taught him: that being nice is always more profitable than being nasty. That helping other people, and working hard, and having clever ideas and a cheerful disposition make people like having you around...."
Working together to make this message magic are phrases like "blisters and boils, hair matted and tangled, grime and guck," "rusted rebar and railway ties and forgotten freight," and "Glorious and icy-cool...spewed wave after wave of blackberry slush over the mini-pirate mob. Sam whooped and hollered at the trigger as purple-drenched kids giggled and and squealed and scattered like ants."
Working together to make this message magic are phrases like "blisters and boils, hair matted and tangled, grime and guck," "rusted rebar and railway ties and forgotten freight," and "Glorious and icy-cool...spewed wave after wave of blackberry slush over the mini-pirate mob. Sam whooped and hollered at the trigger as purple-drenched kids giggled and and squealed and scattered like ants."
July 23, 2014
This is a magical story and Inglis has created a world of genuine wonder. I was enthralled with the fanciful and often hilarious characters, the romance of the location, and the originality of the adventure itself. Inglis writes in a timeless style that harkens back to a hard-to-pin-down bygone era, but is at the same time completely new and fresh feeling. The effect is pure wonder: I was often left smiling and I imagined reading this story on a hot, hazy August day beneath a shady tree. Or a hammock. It’s that kind of dream world, a world of grand ideas and big dreams grounded by genuine values that we’d all like to grow up in. The story is such a pleasure to read because of its subtle nuance, each sentence and every moment are filled with tiny fireflies of whimsy. Combined with a similarly effective illustration style, The Dread Crew is an instant classic for any age and I cannot wait for the next adventure.
September 19, 2010
Someone else mentioned in their review (Sara Gilbert, I think?) that The Dread Crew is "full of delicious words."
I think that's a perfect way to describe this book, and why I enjoyed it as much as I did. Kate just has such a captivating style and voice.
Her writing (and this book) is also full of delicious sounds and scents and scenes I could see unfolding brilliantly in front of me.
I also think the hardcover illustrated edition is definitely worth the additional cost. The illustrations are wonderfully done, and I kept flipping back to the pirate portraits in the front and back of the book while I was reading, whenever I needed to remember which pirate was which.
I think that's a perfect way to describe this book, and why I enjoyed it as much as I did. Kate just has such a captivating style and voice.
Her writing (and this book) is also full of delicious sounds and scents and scenes I could see unfolding brilliantly in front of me.
I also think the hardcover illustrated edition is definitely worth the additional cost. The illustrations are wonderfully done, and I kept flipping back to the pirate portraits in the front and back of the book while I was reading, whenever I needed to remember which pirate was which.
July 10, 2010
I loved the book and concur with other reviewers that a hundred or so more pages would have been fine with me. I hope this indicates that Kate is working on sequels to give us more of these wonderous characters!
February 10, 2010
A wonderful, slime-encrusted romp. Full of the best kind of magic, the raunchiest kind of fun. Makes me want to pack up and move to Nova Scotia, if only for movie night at the Stewart's. I have respectfully covered my copy in gobs of hummus, marmalade and snail snot. Highly recommended.
February 21, 2011
This first book by Kate Inglis is aimed at a younger crowd, but is an absolutely delightful read for all ages. Her novel take on pirates weaves an unconventional story about humanity, aging, exploration, and environmentalism. Fantastic!
November 24, 2009
Immensely entertaining. It's filed under ages 9-12 in our local Chapters but I'm far older than that and had a hard time putting it down.
August 1, 2010
Delightful. A raucous, romping tale for boys and girls, and adults who still remember being a kid.
January 21, 2015
rambunctious, irreverant, silly and fun, with a good story:) In the Prirates Vs Wereducks debate, I admit i fall on the side of wereducks, but it is a close race;P
March 12, 2021
This was a harmless little book, which is, unfortunately, just another way of saying that it was unremarkable.
I'm not sure what it was about it that made me pick it up. Partially, I think it was simply that the title sounded fun and the art on the front cover caught my eye. Even the back sounded interesting enough.
I found that the dedication at the start read like poetry, and even the short prologue at the beginning was luring enough. There would be the occasional glimpse of the writer's clear narrative skill throughout the story, and these were always enchanting. But, by the end of the book, these rare sections were the only ones I actually seemed to really read. I found myself skimming most of the ending, which goes against everything I believe in.
I'm not sure what it was about it that made me pick it up. Partially, I think it was simply that the title sounded fun and the art on the front cover caught my eye. Even the back sounded interesting enough.
I found that the dedication at the start read like poetry, and even the short prologue at the beginning was luring enough. There would be the occasional glimpse of the writer's clear narrative skill throughout the story, and these were always enchanting. But, by the end of the book, these rare sections were the only ones I actually seemed to really read. I found myself skimming most of the ending, which goes against everything I believe in.
April 16, 2018
This is a book you can come back to several times over childhood: first, read it in your best stinky pirate voices to 7-8 year-olds, relishing the literary touches hidden in this adventure yarn. Then, bring it back out for your 11-13 year-old readers, and watch them get absorbed again in the Backwoods. There are also some wonderful messages reinforcing the value of a free and diverse community, where even disreputable pirates love and are loved....a gem.
March 28, 2018
I read this book to my boys at bedtime and we LOVED it. Kate has such an imagination. The names of the pirates, the amazing details, everything ... you feel like you can smell the scene. You can feel the air around you. You can hear their voices. It's phenomenal and needs to be on every bookshelf. HIGHLY recommended!
March 15, 2019
Decent book. I got bored around halfway through, but toughed it and finished!
August 12, 2013
Absolute magic.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews