Not entirely perfect, but pretty darn close. A children's book so modern in so many ways, I can't believe it was published in 1969. ( )

Always a rebel against the conventions of the eighteenth century which require her to be a meek and obedient young lady, a sixteen-year-old girl joins the pirate crew that captures the ship she is traveling on. ( )

Melanie Lennox is supposed to be learning how to be a proper Virginia young lady. Her parents despair of her, however. She tried to free her best friend and slave, Joshua; she insists on associating with her disreputable grandparents; she sneaks off to learn fencing; and now she has released a fox which her neighbor had captured and planned on hunting. Her despairing parents send her off for more education at her uncle's heavy hands, but Melanie -- who calls herself "Jade" -- is captured by Anne Bonney, the legendary pirate queen. So begin a series of piratical adventures in which Jade is joined by the pirates (including the genuine figures Anne Bonney and Mary Read), two former slaves who are her best friends, and the sexily cynical and grumpy Rory.

How could I not have fallen completely for my beloved Jade? She fences her way across the Atlantic, freeing slaves, fighting evil, and demanding the rights of women and Africans -- all the while learning not to take herself too seriously.

Quotes:

"What does it matter whether we hang, if we've learned a little wisdom?"

"Always remember to demand more of yourself than anyone else. Otherwise you become merely a tiresome rebellious young girl who wants that the whole world should change to suit her whim. The world is full of such as these; most of them grow up at last, but they are not particularly admirable, enfin. They are against everything, for nothing." ( )