Book Review - Two boys, a monkey and some pirates

Title: Pirates at Port Royal

Author: Carol Ottley-Mitchell

Illustrated by: Ann-Catherine Loo

Reviewed by: Shaunette A. Wright

Mark, Kyle and Chee Chee the monkey are back at it again! Another trip, another adventure. This time, the boys - and the monkey - head to Port Royal, Jamaica, and what they run into is no less exciting than what they experienced at Brimstone Hill in St Kitts.

School's out and Kyle's grandma has invited Mark to spend part of the summer in Jamaica. After the boys' arrival, Kyle's grandma - Ma James - stops by her restaurant in Port Royal, gives Kyle a few dollars and tells them to go explore. This, my friends, is where the adventure begins.

The boys head down to Fort Charles and, Chee Chee - after stowing away in Kyle's backpack and taking the flight to Jamaica - escapes and runs into a cell of the jail they are visiting. When they find him, he's with Andres, a little Spanish boy imprisoned by Henry Morgan's pirates! Yes, Kyle and Mark have walked out of the 21st century and have stepped into 1669!

They help to free Andres but they are trapped! Every time they try to leave the past, they end up on a cobblestone street in the 17th century. Since they can't leave, Kyle and Mark end up taking a trip with Ol' John the pirate, travelling to Maracaibo in Venezuela, meeting George from Germany, meeting Henry Morgan and helping Morgan's men prepare a fire ship for the enemy. The question is, will they ever leave the 17th century?

Learning and fun

Boys and girls, this is one adventure that will have you at the edge of your seats. It has time travel, forts, battleships, moonlit waters, winding roads and, of course, Chee Chee. There are pirates, a fleet of ships, a confrontation between the British and Spanish and lots of Caribbean history. Learning and fun tied into one simple, one-sitting read. What more can you ask for?

There are only a few illustrations throughout the entire book but don't worry, author Carol Ottley-Mitchell knows the power of words. She also understands where imagination can take you. Thus, she allows her words to do the sketch. Your imagination, boys and girls, will fill those sketches with colour and life. In addition, the language is simple and the chapters are short, so there's no time to get confused or bored.

Pirates at Port Royal has a half-page bibliography, one small map showing the location of Port Royal and another outlining the journey from Jamaica to the Gulf of Venezuela and into Lake Maracaibo. There is also a two-page explanation of the factual and fictional aspects of the story. On the last couple of pages of the book, Ottley-Mitchell invites her young readers to indulge and write their own adventures.

Ottley-Mitchell lives and works in St Kitts-Nevis. She has a love for reading, children and the history of her island home. This love has led her to create the Caribbean Adventure Series. Pirates at Port Royal is the second book in the series. Ann-Catherine Loo is the book's illustrator.

The language is simple and the chapters are short, so there's no time to get confused or bored.