What do You think about The Ghost Of Grania O'Malley (2001)?
I've read a lot of Mr Morpurgo's children's books - my favourite being Private Peaceful - and I picked this up because it was about a bunch of ghost pirates, and am Irish family, trying to save a sacred hill from being demolished by local developers hungry for gold. It's an interesting and fun idea (for the younger readers not so much teens) and was a little different because the main character, Jessie, was a girl suffering from cerebal palsy.However, the writing was somewhat "automatic pilot" and quite dull in places, so it was quite a struggle to get through. Some of Morpurgo's phrasing is very naieve and old-fashioned and the story could do with updating, I think. Also, ironically, even though part of the story is based on an actual pirate queen, much of it was not believable at all.It would have got 2 stars from me, but then the ending came along (with some fun pirate action) and saved the day so it got 3 stars. It's a good book, but not Morpurgo's best.
—Anthony Burt
