Blackhearts

January 18, 2016
The infamous pirate Blackbeard gets a romantic origin story in this historical drama set in 1697 England. Edward "Teach" Drummond, son of a wealthy English merchant, and Anne Barrett, a biracial orphan working as a maid in the Drummond household, fall for each other despite numerous obstacles. Teach wants to defy his father and return to sea; Anne has been stealing from her employer in order to run away and start a new life. United by their distaste for their current predicaments, the two overcome an initial clash of personalities and station to form a deeper bond. When Teach is accused of piracy, and Anne's financial circumstances improve, it seems as though neither will get the dream he or she desire, but hope springs eternal in Castroman's debut. The author plays fast and loose with the legend of Blackbeard, taking advantage of the lack of available details about his early life to craft this soap operatic adventure. An entertaining if unsurprising page-turner that is clearly set up for future installmentsâwhich readers may hope are less landlocked than this outing. Ages 14âup. Agent: Tracy Adams, Adams Literary.

October 15, 2015
In 1697 Bristol, England, the daughter of a wealthy merchant and his West Indian slave falls in love with the man who will become Blackbeard. Anne has become a maid in the Drummond household, where she meets seagoing scion Edward--"Teach"--whose father insists that he remain ashore to learn the family business. He has been betrothed to the titled Patience for years. Anne, meanwhile, wants only to escape her life as a maid, scrimping and stealing small objects so that she can buy passage to the West Indies. Despite their initial intense dislike of one another, it will surprise no one when Edward and Anne fall in love. When Anne's past becomes known, the elder Drummond takes her in as his ward, but he would never approve of a romance between the biracial girl and his son. Castroman promotes Anne as the main character despite the alternating chapters. Her plight in the household mirrors Edward's, as he also yearns to escape to the sea, though the power imbalance between the two is largely elided. The story ends hanging in the air with Teach having just been dubbed Blackbeard, paving the way for a sequel. The author largely invents Edward as a romantic lead, giving few character-based hints of his piratical future. Little history, large romance. (Historical romance. 12-18)

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February 1, 2016

Gr 9 Up-After spending a year out at sea, "Teach" Drummond begrudgingly returns to the world of late 17th-century British high society that he was born into. He is desperate to return to the ocean and live the life he's always dreamt of. Not that long before his arrival, Anne, a teenage orphan, comes to the Drummond estate to work as a maid to save enough money to sail back to the West Indies, the birthplace of her mother. After a few "meet cute" moments, they fall madly for each other. When they are met with disapproval from the Drummonds and society in general (Anne is biracial, and interracial relationships were not accepted at the time), they desperately struggle to find a way out of their surroundings and hopefully make both of their dreams come true. This historical fiction story of the love between the man who will become Blackbeard and the girl of his dreams relies heavily on the romance elements to sustain it. Even though this takes place in the 1690s, there are very few historical aspects included. Teach comes off as a generic romantic lead and shows little of the qualities that will eventually make him one of the most feared pirates of that time. The book is left open-ended, with room for an eventual sequel. VERDICT For teen collections with a heavy romance readership; not an essential purchase for most.-Christopher Lassen, BookOps: New York Public Library & Brooklyn Public Library

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2016
Grades 8-12 When Anne Barrett first meets Edward Teach Drummond, in the late seventeenth century, in a charged interaction at the fish market by the docks, she senses in him a defiant strength and a potential for danger. When she serves him his dinner later that day and learns that he is the son of her employer, the danger feels all the more real. Teach, on the other hand, is entranced by Anne's confidence and grace. After spending a year at sea, Teach's dissatisfaction over the prospect of returning to his scripted life is understandable, but falling for Anne while betrothed to another proves a perilous step. This romantic novel of manners imagines the origins of Blackbeard the pirate and a fiercely independent woman, whose love set him on his course. Filled with well-drawn and morally complex characters, a rich frame, and smoldering passion, this first novel will hit the mark with readers of historical fiction who want strong heroines and unexplored plots to ponder.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)