Pirates of the Caribbean: Jack Sparrow
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Pirates of the Caribbean: Jack Sparrow is a series for young readers of 9-12 written by Rob Kidd. The series are prequels to the Pirates of the Caribbean films. The series details Jack Sparrow's teenage years prior to the events of the movies.
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[edit] Settings
Tortuga, Dead Aztec City, Mermaid Kingdom, Isla Esqueletica, Yucatan Peninsula, and New Orleans. (So far in the series.)
[edit] Characters
- Jack Sparrow- A teenage stowaway (not yet a pirate) with an unknown past. In the books, he is depicted as more of an adventurer than a pirate. He is the Captain of a battered old fishing ship, the Barnacle. He, Arabella, and Fitzwilliam are all presumed to be in the 15-16 age range. (Referenced upon meeting Jean and Tumen, "The two of them were a few years younger than Jack.")
- Fitzwilliam P. Dalton III- A young British gentile tired of his rich and pampered lifestyle and so joins the Jack's crew in the first book. He and Jack share a love/hate friendship; the sarcastic quips between the two accounting for much of the humor in the series. He gets angry when Jack Sparrow takes his pocket watch or spy glass.
- Arabella Smith- A teenage barmaid being raised by her drunkard father who owns a tavern in Tortuga. Her mother was kidnapped by pirates and thought to be dead until book 5.
- Jean Magliore- thirteen year old boy from New Orleans. Often spouts French phrases. Tia Dalma turned his sister into a cat. Jean should also be noted for his irresistible love for food and (humorously) bad table manners.
- Tumen- An Aztec native from the Yucatan sold into slavery by pirates. At some point, he met Jean and his cat-sister and the two became best friends.
- Constance- Jean's sister; turned into a cat by Tia Dalma. It is unknown at this time if she will ever be a human again. Another main source of humor is her catlike viciousness towards Jack and the crewmembers. She only gets along with Jean, naturally.
- Captain Torrents- A vicious pirate captain with the ability to control storms that Jack and his crew faced in the first book.
- Left Foot Louis- Notorious pirate with two left feet that kidnapped Arabella's mother and also quested for the Sword of Cortés.
- Madame Minuit- A powerful and seductive creole witch from New Orleans (Jean's hometown) with the power over snakes. She stole a magical amulet from Tumen's people, resulting in the blame placed on him and exile from his own people.
- Tim Hawk- A young boy who was under the control of Madame Minuit but later turned against her in The Age of Bronze and joined the Barnacle 's crew. He is a parody to Jim Hawkins, the adventurer character from the famous pirate-based novel, Treasure Island.
- Laura Smith- Notorious pirate, mother of Arabella Smith.
- Mr. Silverback- Strange pirate of the ship, Fleur de la Mort. He also has a crystal leg and silver tooth (which enables strange powers.) He is also somehow linked to the Sun and Stars Medallion, (which the crew of the Barnacle currently possesses). His name may be a parody to Long John Silver, from the book, Treasure Island.
[edit] Plot / Summary
[edit] The Coming Storm
Release Date: June 1, 2006 (USA) In the beginning Jack, is in Tortuga Village, looking for a sack which contains the sheath for the Sword of Cortés. He eventually finds a pirate in a bar who has it and gets it from him with a fight. The bar attendant, Arabella, goes after Jack and finds out what he's doing. Jack is planning on taking a ship to go look for the storied Sword of Cortés, and reunite it with its sheath. Arabella leads Jack to an abandoned ship, The Barnacle, and they both set sail. Before they leave, a young teenager, Fitzwilliam P. Dalton III, insists on joining them for their quest. The three sail for many days and come upon an island, where they meet two 13 year old boys, Jean and Tumen, and their cat sister Constance. Jack remarks about The Sword of Cortés, and Jean and Tumen lead the crew to a 'dead' city on the cursed island. Inside the main building of the city, the crew find the skeleton of the city's king, Stone-Eyed Sam, who is said to be holding the Sword, but it is missing. Jack pockets the fabled stone eye of the now-dead former pirate king as a souvenir. The crew find left footprints on the ground, and soon realize that the notorious pirate, Left Foot Louis, has it. They all go rushing to the Barnacle, when they suddenly come face to face with Torrents, a crew member of the feared Davy Jones's crew. They all battle on the beach, for who would get the Sword of Cortés's sheath, and Jack eventually defeats Torrents (look out for a reference to Ben Franklin!) and escape on the Barnacle.
It is revealed in this book that Jack knew Benjamin Franklin, and taught him the secrets of electricity.
[edit] The Siren Song
Release Date: June 1, 2006 (USA) Then, after many days at sea, the crew of the Barnacle begin to act very strange after hearing a phantom-esque song floating over the waves. Each crew member wants to take the Barnacle in a different direction and away from the Sword's location. Jack seems unaffected by the Song, and wonders what is afoot. He is then taken deep below the ocean, after strange creatures start attacking the Barnacle and confronted with antagonist mermaids in an undersea mermaid kingdom. Jack says that he and his crew are after the Sword of Cortés. The mermaids then make a deal with Jack that when the crew eventually gets the Sword, they would have to return to the mermaid kingdom and give them the thing Jack values most. (Although they state that it is not physical treasure.) He also gives them the stone eye- which he does without thinking. Jack is then set free and his crew goes back to normal. It is a little while later, Jack realizes to his horror that the thing he values most is his freedom. (He has essentially sold himself to the Sirens.)
[edit] The Pirate Chase
Release Date: August 1, 2006 (USA) In the beginning, Jack and company spot the island of Isla Esqueletica, and stop there. The village on the island seems to be abandoned- until they find Left Foot Louis, and two of his pirates. The Barnacle 's crew and Left Foot Louis all get into a fight, and in the end of the battle, Arabella grabs the Sword from Louis, and accidentally invoking its power, makes Louis evaporate. Jack, Arabella, and the others, are shocked, but are relieved that their greatest foe is gone. Jack then reunites the Sword with its sheath, and after reciting a spell, the sword's previous owner- a very dead Hernan Cortés appears before them.
[edit] The Sword of Cortés
Release Date: October 1, 2006 (USA) After suddenly confronting Cortés himself, Jack is tutored by Cortés on how to use the sword. Strangely, snow begins to fall on the Caribbean island. Tumen becomes very sick, and becomes worse by the minute. Jack, taken in by the power of the sword, begins abandoning his friends to learn how to control the power by Cortés. It is revealed that the sword needs to be by the eye of Stone-Eyed-Sam to work at maximum power- the very same eye that Jack had carelessly given to the mysterious Sirens just days prior. So, after returning to the Sirens, and single-handedly defeating a terrible beast of theirs, Jack reclaims the eye and returns to the snow-covered island; where Jack's crewmembers and friends attempt to stay warm in the deserted village. Jack soon realizes that Cortés was merely using him, and intends to reclaim his former sword. In a tragic turn of events, Tumen dies from his mysterious illness. From inside beads given to Jack by Tia Dalma, comes the spirit of Montecuhzoma, who battles Cortés to the (re)death. Jack uses the power of the sword one last time to bring back the villagers back, and Tumen is miraculously revived. The crew decides to go to Tumen's village in the Yucatan, as he has not been to his home since he was sold into slavery.
It is also noteworthy that Jack has braided his first dreadlock into his hair- first step in becoming the notorious pirate.
[edit] The Age of Bronze
Release Date: December 1, 2006 (USA) After everything the Barnacle 's crew had gone through with the Sword of Cortés, they decide to stop on Tumen's home village on the Yucatan Peninsula. A day later, one of the village's charmed amulets goes missing- and the crew are the main suspects. The are banished from the island, and decide to go searching for the real thieves. Along the way they confront a bronze ship-with bronze people who had been frozen by the metal. Then, the next day they arrive at the city of New Orleans, and find the true thieves in a hotel- Madame Minuit, and a young boy. The crew battle Madame Minuit for the amulet, and for some reason the boy turns against her and slows her down, allowing the Barnacle 's crew to escape with the amulet. (In the fight, Jack is accidentally smacked in the mouth with the amulet, turning some of his teeth to bronze- explaining their current condition in the films.) They all reach the Barnacle and quickly set sail. The crew then find the boy on the ship, who reveals his name as Tim Hawk, who then reveals that Madame Minuit forced him to turn the ship the Barnacle had confronted into bronze, and that she had treated him like her slave for many years and wanted to escape. Jack then agrees to let Tim join the crew. A few minutes later, another ship comes alongside the Barnacle- and on the ship is Arabella's mother- living the life of a pirate alongside an old enemy, Left Foot Louis, who is cursed to work for her crew for eternity. So Arabella is reunited with her mother.
[edit] Silver
Release Date: February 1, 2007 (USA) After coming ship to ship with the Fleur de La Mort, The crew of the Barnacle is foribly brought onto the ship by Captain Laura Smith, Captain of the ship (Also Arabella's mother.) There the Barnacle 's crew discover a new and powerful enemy, Mr. SilverBack, and also the Barnacle 's old enemy, Left Foot Louis. They both erupt into a fight when the Barnacle's crew comes aboard their ship (because Louis wants to kill them all.) They are then both sent belowdeck for fighting by Laura Smith. Jack is very suspicious of Louis and SilverBack, so he sneaks belowdeck and finds out that the two pirates are planning mutiny against their captain. And most of the crew is on their side. Jack immediately warns the captain and his friends of this plan, but is too late. All the pirates on deck erupt in battle against the Barnacle 's crew and Laura Smith. Eventually, they win, and tie up the mutinied pirates. Jack was fighting SilverBack in the battle, and found out he had the silver gem which fit into the medallion he had. So he yanks it out of SilverBack's hand. Strangely, SilverBack and Louis suddenly disappear. Arabella walks over to her mother and begin to talk about what happened in their pasts, which soon turns into a big fight. Jack and the crew then quietly sneak into the captain's cabin where he fitted the silver gem into the medallion. After a fierce fight then afterwards, Laura storms into the cabin finding Jack and his crew. She tells him to leave the ship immediately. Jack enthusiastically agrees and goes over with his crew to the Barnacle. Arabella goes over too but is stopped by her mother. Then she cuts all the ropes tying the Fleur and the Barnacle together free.
[edit] City of Gold
Release Date: March 1, 2007 (USA) City of Gold is basically one big continuation of Silver- lots of fight sequences and hostage-passing back and forth. Jack fights Madame Minuit in a final showdown- barely escaping with his life, but victorious nontheless. At the end of the book, it takes a twist ending with all of Jack's crewmembers/friends going back to their respective homes- save Fitzwilliam, ironically. He and Jack banter back and forth about Fitz's watch, when, in another dramatic twist, the fearsome Davy Jones surfaces beside the Barnacle and demands it.
Note: Some of Jack's teeth, previously turned to bronze in the previous story, permamantly turn gold when the Amulet of the Sun and Stars is destroyed. This is yet another of his now-famous traits as a pirate.
[edit] The Timekeeper
Release Date: July 1, 2007 (USA)
[edit] Dance of the Hours
Release Date: August 1, 2007 (USA)
