Sometimes to beat a pirate, you have to become a pirate
To anyone else, it would seem like a perfectly ordinary shed in a perfectly ordinary garden. But to twelve-year-old Johnny and his nine-year-old sister, Ella, it is so much more. After all, this is where their adventures started. This is where Shawn invented the time machine.
Now the machine is ready to take the group back to 1699 – smack in the middle of the Golden Age of Piracy. At first, their biggest concern is the stormy weather, but when they cross paths with one of the most dreaded pirates of the Caribbean, they realize that their problems have only just begun.
In a time when sailors and pirates settled their differences with swords and cannonballs, they find themselves split up, stranded, and with the lives of innocent merchants in their hands. Once again, Johnny and Ella must rely on crafty planning, trickery, modern technology, and Shawn’s incredible inventions, but this time it may not be enough. Sometimes, to beat a pirate, you have to become a pirate.
Can two stubborn orphans and a quirky inventor change the course of history?
Sometimes to beat a pirate, you have to become a pirate
To anyone else, it would seem like a perfectly ordinary shed in a perfectly ordinary garden. But to twelve-year-old Johnny and his nine-year-old sister, Ella, it is so much more. After all, this is where their adventures started. This is where Shawn invented the time machine.
Now the machine is ready to take the group back to 1699 – smack in the middle of the Golden Age of Piracy. At first, their biggest concern is the stormy weather, but when they cross paths with one of the most dreaded pirates of the Caribbean, they realize that their problems have only just begun.
In a time when sailors and pirates settled their differences with swords and cannonballs, they find themselves split up, stranded, and with the lives of innocent merchants in their hands. Once again, Johnny and Ella must rely on crafty planning, trickery, modern technology, and Shawn’s incredible inventions, but this time it may not be enough. Sometimes, to beat a pirate, you have to become a pirate.
Can two stubborn orphans and a quirky inventor change the course of history?
Johnny woke up with a start. Frantically, he glanced around as his eyes adjusted to the dark. When the four walls of his tiny room came into view, he breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m home,” he whispered.
Home for Johnny was an orphanage run by the cruel and heartless Regina. The building itself was magnificent. From the outside, it looked like paradise – a grand mansion with a magnificent garden, complete with its own duck pond, and tainted only by a dirty brown shed among a cluster of trees at the far end. But inside, the kids were crammed into small bunk beds in a wing of the mansion, with only Johnny, the eldest, allowed to have his own little room. When they were not at school or doing homework, Regina had them doing chores and tending to the estate.
Still, Johnny was relieved to know he was home. With a deep breath, he got up and walked to the window. “There it is,” he mumbled while staring out towards the crooked shed. The moon was full, so he could see it quite clearly. It lay there, unassuming and dark, just like any old shed in any old garden. But Johnny knew better. This was no ordinary shed.
Tap-tap… tap-tap
“Come in,” Johnny said in a quiet voice.
The door creaked open, and a small round head poked inside. Two big brown eyes on a cute little face peered into the darkness. The girl saw Johnny standing by the window and squeezed into the room, shutting the door behind her ever so carefully. Sound really carried in this big old house.
“What’s the matter, Ella?” Johnny asked his nine-year-old sister. “Can’t sleep?”
She shuffled over to the window and stood next to him, staring out over the garden. “I’m fine,” Ella said. She took out a small elastic band from a pocket in her pink gown and pulled her shoulder-length brown hair back into a ponytail. “But I could hear you making noises in your sleep.”
Johnny cringed. He hoped no one else had heard. At least Ella’s bunk was right next to the door in the room across the hall, so if anyone would hear anything, it would be her.
Ella leaned in and hugged her older brother. He was a full head taller than her, so her arms wrapped around his waist. “More nightmares?”
Johnny was used to being the strong one. He was, after all, twelve years old and quite big for his age, but tonight he just hugged his sister back. “I keep dreaming we are back in time. It’s not always medieval England. Sometimes it’s other places. But the three of us – you, me, and Shawn – are always stuck somewhere and have no idea how to get back.”
It had been a week since their very first time-travel adventure. A week since they had discovered that Regina’s brother – the timid, balding man who she kept in that old shed and who was only allowed out when there was work to be done – had actually built a time machine. With it, they had traveled to England, to a time of castles and knights, and they had had an amazing but dangerous adventure. Upon their return, the time machine, which seemed to have mind of its own, had reset itself to the Caribbean in the year 1699 – the Golden Age of Piracy. At first Johnny had been excited about traveling back to this time, but now he was no longer so sure it was a good idea.
“You needn’t worry all the time,” Ella whispered. “In the end, everything turned out OK.”
“I know,” Johnny said. “But doesn’t it bother you that we don’t know why the time machine sent us there? Or why it now wants us to go to 1699?”
That was what made things so weird. Even though Shawn had built the machine, he had no control of where or when the time portal opened. The last component that he had needed to make it work had arrived mysteriously in the mail together with a note saying that he would be helped by two kids, named Johnny and Ella. The note had arrived before either Johnny or Ella had ever set foot in that shed or talked to Shawn.
Ella shrugged. “I’m just glad we helped people. Roger, Edith, and their little daughter, Mary, would’ve never made it through the winter without us.”
Johnny frowned and continued to stare out over the garden. He loved helping people, but if he was to risk their safety on another super dangerous adventure, he needed answers. So far, all he knew was that there was something bigger going on. Clearly whoever had sent Shawn the missing part was now in control of the machine – and Shawn had no idea who that might be or what they wanted.
“Someone wanted us to travel back to medieval England, Ella,” Johnny said. “And now, they want us to go to the Caribbean.”
“I know,” Ella replied. She had figured that much out herself. Not only had Shawn received that mysterious part, but someone had also sent Johnny a book about medieval England days before they had ever set foot in Shawn’s shed. “Did someone send you a book this time too?”
Johnny pulled away from her, reached over to this nightstand, and grabbed a big, hardcover book. “Check it out.”
Ella grabbed it and read the title. “The Golden Age of Piracy,” she said. “Oh my. They really do want us to go.”
Johnny nodded. “I am not sure it’s a good idea though. It was all fun and exciting last time, but it was also very dangerous. What if we had never come back?”
Ella did not reply. Johnny was right, of course. He was always the one who was thinking ahead and seeing the bigger picture, while she often just rushed in and hoped for the best. “So, what now?”
No sooner had she uttered those words when light flashed from the small window of the shed, first yellow, then red, then purple.
“I guess someone else is up,” Johnny said. “And he’s powered up the time machine.”
"Ho, ho, ho and shiver me timbers." If it isn't Johnny, Ella, and Shawn just back from merry ole England and now planning a trip to the Caribbean (cerca 1699), in the golden age of piracy. Has anyone seen Jack Sparrow?
Twelve-year-old Johnny Harrison and his nine-year-old sister Ella are orphans. They reside in an orphanage run by the the cruel, heartless, and pear-shaped Regina. Regina is a master of disguise. To the rest of the world she is a sweet and kind woman taking in orphaned children. She provides living quarters in a giant mansion. Complete with a picturesque garden and a duck pond. However, if one takes the time to look inside, they would find that the children are living in a gilded cage. Because for one thing the kids are crammed into bunk beds (only Johnny has his own room). When they are not in school or doing their homework they are forced to do chores and tend to the estate.
Regina is not kind to Shawn, her own brother, either. Shawn is a timid, balding man that Regina has forced to live in a tiny shed on the grounds. He is only allowed to come out to do work or repairs. Shawn is described as balding, but has tufts of orange hair that grows on the sides and sticks out in every direction. Yet, you cannot judge a book by its cover because, in his spare time Shawn has invented a time machine. Although, he has no control of where or more importantly when in time the portal will open. So, now Johnny, Ella, Shawn, and sometimes Ginny (Shawn's black and white border collie) find themselves traveling through time together at the whim of capriciousness.
Now time travel like most anything in life has a few rules such as the fact that they have to spend at least a week in the new time period. Otherwise, the current version of themselves going back in time might very well collide with the versions of themselves returning from the past (anyone who has watched the movie Terminator Genisys would understand this dilemma). They also have to find clothes that will stick out as little as possible because they don't want to scare or confuse anyone. But the coolest thing of all is that when they return it's always almost as soon as they left. Isn't time travel awesome!
After being in medieval England everyone should be ready for anything, but no. After a stormy night on an island shore a merchant ship lead by Dutch captain Albert Koopman arrives. The captain kindly agrees to drop them off at a British colony. But before that can happen, a pirate ship attacks them and suddenly cannons are firing upon their ship and wood is exploding all around them. The Dutch ship is forced to surrender. Now the children are introduced to a real pirate. Namely one Caine Karver. A rugged beast of a man with a thick black beard and an eyepatch. Erik (the son of captain Koopman) and Johnny find themselves kidnaped and forced into labor aboard a pirate ship while Ella and Shawn are left behind on the Dutch ship.
The only thing I knew about pirates before reading this book was what I saw in movies (Like Pirates of the Caribbean and other swashbuckling tales). However, after reading Time Travelers of the Caribbean I feel like I have learned so much more. I have added new words to my vocabulary like a sloop or a chain shot. I know that pirates smell like old socks and that their food is soggy, flavorless, and sometimes as hard as biting into concrete. And also the fact that they wind up missing a number of their teeth. Although in all fairness they get to replace them with gold and silver fillings, so its all good.
As a lover of all things science fiction and historical facts, I am enraptured by this charming series created by Alan Frost. Frost makes learning fun. After I read this book I looked up information about pirates. I never realized that piracy arose due to conflicts over trade and colonization. Also, that it included rival European countries like Britain, Spain, the Netherlands, Portugal, and France. Thank you Wikipedia and Alan Frost.
I give Time Travelers of the Caribbean by Alan Frost 4 out of 5 stars due to a few grammatical errors. I was completely charmed by a book that both entertains and teaches historical facts to children and adults.
Get ready! We already have a new destination: Denmark 903 the age of Vikings, I cant wait.