The Ghostfaces: Brotherband Chronicles, Book 6
By Carrie R. Wheadon,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Swashbuckling uncharted-island adventure has a few lulls.
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What's the Story?
Hal and the crew of the Heron are all ready to sail for home after official business in Clonmel, but the weather has other ideas. A relentless, rough wind pulls them off course completely. When it's discovered that one of their water casks sprang a leak, the need to find land is urgent. Hal makes the tough decision to pull the ship well into the Endless Ocean in uncharted territory -- the ship just won't budge in any other direction. Just before the crew dies of thirst, they encounter an island. It seems uninhabited at first, but when Lydia goes hunting in the forest she spots fresh human footprints. Whoever is out there is wary of the brotherband -- almost as wary as the brotherband is of something else: giant scratch marks in the trees. They could only have been made by a massive bear, one that's sure to come sniffing around the new brotherband camp.
Is It Any Good?
As reliable as Hal is as captain of the Heron, every book in the Brotherband Chronicles is a reliably good read, including this one. Here comes another high-seas, swashbuckling adventure, this time in the uncharted territory of the Endless Ocean fighting against a band of skull-painted pillagers -- well, eventually. It's not all swashbuckling. After a harrowing start where the crew almost dies of thirst, there's quite a lull as readers get acquainted with a new island and its inhabitants, friendly and not.
It stays friendly for some time, actually. There are banquets and the swapping of recipes, with an amiable village of locals. The dreaded Ghostfaces of the title take a very long time to arrive, making readers almost think the crew is getting off the island easy -- if you don't count a nasty encounter with a giant bear. As usual with the series, when the action ramps up and the axes and swords come out, there's quite a payoff. Unusual for the series, the very end takes on a somber tone.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about what makes a long adventure series good. Will you keep reading this one? What do you think is next for the brotherband, especially now that they're getting older and noticing girls?
In an author's note, John Flanagan says he took pains not to stereotype the (fictitious) indigenous people the brotherband encounter on the island. Can you think of older books you've read or movies you've seen -- Peter Pan, for one -- where stereotypes of "natives" are rampant? What's the danger in stereotyping?
What do you think about Hal's decision not to chart his course from the island back home? Why did he feel the island needed protection from other Scandians like himself?
Book Details
- Author: John Flanagan
- Genre: Adventure
- Topics: Adventures , Friendship , Great Boy Role Models , Great Girl Role Models , Wild Animals
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Philomel
- Publication date: June 14, 2016
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 10 - 14
- Number of pages: 400
- Available on: Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Last updated: February 10, 2020
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