Peter Duck: A Treasure Hunt in the Caribbees (Godine Storyteller)

tagged it with "racism" because it contains at least one use of the word "nigger" ... haven't found anything else yet, halfway through.

This story and Missee Lee are an oddity -- this subseries of books, in itself, appears to be simply a continuation of the Swallows and Amazons books, with the children from the original northern series setting off in search of treasure on a real seagoing ship with the Amazons' uncle "Captain Flint"

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and an old seaman named Peter Duck. Aside from having more serious adventures it seems realistic. But within the other subseries, it turns out this book is fiction within the S&A world, actually written by one of the Swallows, Titty. I did not get hold of the Duck subseries until long after reading the others and being rather puzzled by references to it.

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I started rereading this series a little while ago and this one is probably the best so far, trumping even Swallows and Amazons for tightness and excitement. Cute and thrilling at the same time. Golly, I love Arthur Ransome!

I loved [Amazons and Swallows], the first book in the famous children's series by British author, Arthur Ransome. Chronologically this book is second, although it was published third. In hindsight I wish I had read it in publication order, because we learn in [Swallowdale] that [Peter Duck] is a

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fictional tale written by one of the characters. That goes a long way to explaining some of the things I did not like about it, thinking that it was meant to be realistic.

The children have gathered in Lowestoft to join Captain Flint (Nancy and Peggy's uncle) on the schooner Wild Cat. They meet a crusty old salt named Peter Duck who volunteers to fill in for the other adult who is delayed and can't join them. Peter tells them a yarn about being shipwrecked as a ship's boy and seeing pirates bury treasure at the foot of a palm tree. Excited by the prospect of real buried treasure, Captain Flint and the Swallows and Amazons crew are off for the Caribbees, trailed by the notorious pirate Black Jake and The Viper. Adventures abound and once more the children must rely on their wits and each other as they sail across the Atlantic.

Although the middle of the book dragged a bit, the action in the last third is nonstop excitement. I look forward to returning to England and the adventures of the Swallows and Amazon in a more realistic setting.

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