Gwen feels powerless. Her parents don't understand her,
and
she's tired of her dad, Phil, taking her mom's side on
everything. Phil loves his daughter, but he's focused on
his
own goals right now, ones that are bigger than his current
position. When Gwen decides to steal a ship with a few
friends and become pirates, Phil will have to decide what
is
really important to him while his daughter tries to find
freedom.
Out of all the brilliant, moving, and unsuspecting novels
I've read of Daniel Handler's, WE ARE PIRATES wins for
leaving me the most stunned and unsure (in a good way).
Handler makes the thought of becoming a pirate, something
normally a little outrageous in California, into something
so realistic, so heartbreaking, and so emotionally
compromising. On the other side with Phil, his actions are
so normal, almost awfully so, that his decisions become
huge. The characters in this novel come to life in a way
that might force readers to look at their own way of
living
and what lengths they would go to change it.
As often comes with dynamic characters, WE ARE PIRATES has
more layers held inside than can be taken in after one
reading. On the surface, readers will still get an
emotionally charged and entertaining story, but the more
thought that goes into the situations, the more bulge-
level
eye-opening will occur. Even before I hit the end, I knew
this would be a story where each needed reread would only
get more intense.
From Gwen's desperate need of freedom and a friend or two
to
Phil's disconnect with his family and even himself, WE ARE
PIRATES provides readers with unforgettable characters.
Daniel Handler continues to amaze as a writer, and there
is
no doubt that this book will stay on my favorite's shelf.
Mega-bestselling author Daniel Handler (aka Lemony
Snicket) gives us his long-awaited new novel for adult
readers: a dark, rollicking, stunningly entertaining human
comedy.
A boat has gone missing. Goods have been stolen. There is
blood in the water. It is the twenty-first century and a
crew of pirates is terrorizing the San Francisco Bay.
Phil is a husband, a father, a struggling radio producer,
and the owner of a large condo with a view of the water.
But he'd like to be a rebel and a fortune hunter.
Gwen is his daughter. She's fourteen. She's a student, a
swimmer, and a best friend. But she'd like to be an
adventurer and an outlaw.
Phil teams up with his young, attractive assistant. They
head for the open road, attending a conference to seal a
deal.
Gwen teams up with a new, fierce friend and some restless
souls. They head for the open sea, stealing a boat to hunt
for treasure.
We Are Pirates is a novel about our desperate searches for
happiness and freedom, about our wild journeys beyond the
boundaries of our ordinary lives.
Also, it's about a teenage girl who pulls together a
ragtag crew to commit mayhem in the San Francisco Bay,
while her hapless father tries to get her home.