Sid Fleischman writes a good saga, but I also enjoy pirate stories. ( )

I adore Sid Fleishman as a writer and as a human being. I was reading this book aloud to my son Willi. I got to the part where the captain was marooned, and Willi ran from the room crying. When I got him to calm down, he told me he didn't want the captain to die. I said he didn't die, he was marooned. He asked what that meant, and I told him. He thought that was worse! And he cried for a week. Every time he saw the book, he'd start crying all over again. We couldn't finish the story because of all his tears. In desperation, I wrote Mr. Fleishman and he wrote back! He said, "Tell Willi, the captain was rescued and he's juggling turtle eggs on Barbados!" Willi dried his tears, we finished the book, and Sid has been my favorite author ever since. (He would have been anyway.)

And since I'm here... I tried to add his book, "The Hey Hey Man." It's on Amazon books, but it won't come up on this site for some reason. Love it! The drawings are crude, but they grow on you. Read it ages ago and still will go around and say "Hey Hey!" ( )

This novel is about Oliver Finch who is shanghaied into the world of pirates. Captain Scratch, the pirate who kidnapped Oliver, believes Oliver has the ability to see ghosts and wants help defeating the ghosts who are guarding buried treasure. Good related reading for kids in grades 5-9.

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