The Dark Frigate

The only novel to win the Newbery Medal posthumously, The Dark Frigate is a thunderous sea adventure pulled straight from the era of black flags and bloodied decks. When orphaned Philip Marsham accidentally shatters more than a window, he shatters his entire life and runs from London with nothing but his seafaring instincts and a price on his head. He finds work aboard the Rose of Devon, a ship bound for quiet waters, but quiet is not what finds him. In a blaze of violence, pirates seize the vessel and press Philip into their murderous crew. Now he must navigate not just storm-tossed seas but the treacherous waters of his own conscience: obey the code of the black flag or face the hangman's noose. This is no sanitized tale of swashbuckling glee, it is a story about a boy forced to grow up fast in a world that offers no gentle answers.