The High-Skies Adventures of Blue Jay the Pirate

October 1, 2012

Gr 4-7-Captain Blue Jay, notoriously feared pirate captain of the flying ship Grosbeak, loves to collect eggs, giving him a revered reputation as a cannibal. When his latest treasure hatches, revealing a fast-growing gosling, the feathered crew bickers as to what to do with him. Motherly Junco takes young Gabriel under her wing, teaching him the ways of pirate life, much to the chagrin of the other birds on board who fear his burgeoning size will be their downfall. The avian society faces oppressive taxes and the Thrush government forbids migration, which forces the pirate birds to flee skyward. Bigger issues soon ensue as they find themselves not only trying to escape the oppressive Thrushian government, but also thieving crows and murderous weasels and fishers. When the Grosbeak becomes shipwrecked and Gabriel (who cannot yet fly) falls from the ship, he and Junco escape attacks, finding refuge at the tavern of Poppa Fox. With his help and a nearly blind mole named Hillary, Gabriel and Junco set off to find their shipmates before the crows murder them all. This swashbuckling adventure is Nash's first novel, and the numerous full-color illustrations are spot-on, adding charm and whimsy to the motley crew of characters. With a sophisticated vocabulary, a certain amount of violence, and colorful pirate language, the book requires fairly competent readers. A pirate adventure with birds as heroes and villains might have limited appeal to older readers, but animal fantasy fans not quite ready for Brian Jacques's "Redwall" series (Philomel) may want to walk the plank and jump in.-Michele Shaw, Quail Run Elementary School, San Ramon, CA

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 22, 2012
Picture book creator Nash (The Cat in the Rhinestone Suit) offers a charming illustrated novel set in a world filled with anthropomorphic avian pirates. Blue Jay, the notorious captain of the airship Grosbeak, has been collecting eggs for years as he robs from the evil oligarchs in Thrushia. He rarely lets them hatch (and is happy to perpetuate the myth that he cannibalistically consumes them), but when his navigator, Junco, is compelled to nurse one particular egg, the entire crew has to care for Gabriel, a rare gosling. Their adventures take them into contact with everything from dangerous fisher cats and a dirt-loving mole on the ground to bats and crows in the air. Nash creates a wholly original and fully realized world in its own right, though it's hard to avoid comparisons to previous anthropomorphic animal tales; as with Redwall, scenes of violence and death intermix with the whimsy of the concept. That neither element overwhelms the other is a testament to Nash's aptitude, and readers should long remember the novel's endearing characters, which appear throughout in his gracefully integrated full color pen-and-ink art. Ages 9â13.

August 1, 2012
A corvid catastrophe threatens swashbuckling Blue Jay and his mixed avian crew after a treetop shipwreck leaves them to the tender mercies of a murder of crows. Reputed to be "generally the most bloodthirsty and fearsome pirate to sail the high skies" (but not really that bad), Blue Jay flies the Jolly Robin from his ship the Grosbeak. Aside, however, from occasional harmless plundering, he much prefers sailing grandly through the clouds. Still, after falling into the clutches of his more viciously piratical cousin Teach and getting their flight feathers clipped, he and his scrappy crew--particularly Gabriel, a recent hatchling who grows in the tale from an oversized and ungainly bumbler into a magnificent Branta goose--must act. They rise to defeat the crows in a pair of savage battles with help from flocks of sparrows and an intrepid mole. In his debut as a novelist, Nash's dialogue comes off as stilted ("This evening... I managed to successfully facilitate a visit between our unwitting weasels and a she wolf," reports the mole), and his efforts to inject mystical notes with repeated references to geese as gods or godlings seem labored. Otherwise, he crafts a merry romp that is much enhanced by frequent formally drawn ink-and-color scenes of an airborne galleon and full-body portraits of birds posing in 17th-century costume. An imaginative premise, fledged in showy if sometimes overdecorated finery. (Fantasy. 10-12)

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September 15, 2012
Grades 3-6 This appealing yarn tells of a band of bird pirates who sail their ship through the sky and one day bring aboard a mysterious egg despite a superstitious sailor's warning that it's an evil ovum. When a gosling hatches, Blue Jay, the captain feared by many but admired by his crew, insists the youngster, Gabriel, be kept on. Gabriel quickly grows in size, but bad luck arrives just as fast, and together this ragtag avian crew battles crows, still winds, and other hazards while they quest for their next plunder. Technically, pirates are bad guys, but Nash's distinct characters, from shorebirds to sparrows to a very helpful star-nosed mole, are sympathetic and well drawn (literally, as the book features frequent and wonderful full-page illustrations), and Gabriel proves his value and self-worth in bad times and good. Referencing Robert Louis Stevenson and hearkening back to classic animal adventures of yore, this has the tone and style to appeal to thoughtful young readers; a coming-of-age element to gratify older ones; and drama, battles, and triumphs to entice the rest.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)