Tell No Tales: Pirates of the Southern Seas

by Sam Maggs, Kendra Wells (Illustrator)

Overview

Tell No Tales is a swashbuckling graphic novel adventure inspired by the historical exploits of real-life female pirates from bestselling author Sam Maggs and illustrator Kendra Wells.

Anne Bonny had it all—her own ship, a pirate crew, and a fearsome reputation—but a new enemy has her on the run and it’ll take all of Anne’s courage to stay afloat.

The night before a major heist, Anne has an unsettling dream, and come morning, the robbery is thwarted by Woodes Rogers, a zealot who has sworn to eliminate piracy. With no plan to escape, Anne must persuade her crew to seek the meaning of her dream—or perish.

Full of sass, solidarity, and swordplay, Tell No Tales is a graphic novel about belonging, belief, and how far we’re willing to go to protect the ones we love.

“Armchair middle school swabbies and buccaneers will give this convention busting broadside a rousing huzzah!” —School Library Journal (Starred Review)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781419739804
Publisher:	Abrams Fanfare
Publication date:	02/09/2021
Pages:	160
Sales rank:	1,079,621
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Sam Maggs is a bestselling writer of books, comics, and video games. She’s the author of The Fangirl’s Guide to the Galaxy, and Girl Squads, and has written for comics such as Star Trek and Jem and the Holograms. Maggs is a Canadian currently living in Los Angeles.

Editorial Reviews

★ 12/17/2021

Gr 5–7—In a swashbuckling graphic tale that mingles history with fantasy, science fiction, and multiple challenges to conventional gender expectations, pirate captain Anne Bonny (who is white) and the racially diverse crew of the sloop La Sirene find themselves targeted by pirate chaser Woodes Rogers, who commands the Lophius, an ironclad paddlewheeler powered by the newly invented Newcomen steam engines. Along with visits to actual Caribbean sites and celebrities (notably the hidden location of Haiti's Maroon leader Nanny, practitioner of what she calls "Obeah science"), the ensuing chase mixes battles with backstories on the way to a climactic clash, a rousing (if bloodless) finish, and a substantial afterword and source list. In cartoon art that stays inside the neatly squared-off panels, Wells goes for legibility with clean lines, clear colors, and big-eyed, expressive faces on theatrically posed figures that for all their 18th-century piratical garb look as modern as the story's pervasive inclusivity. One (trans) pirate even speaks in emoji. VERDICT Armchair middle school swabbies and buccaneers will give this convention busting broadside a rousing huzzah!—John Peters, Children's Literature Consultant, NY

School Library Journal

**STARRED REVIEW**
"Armchair middle school swabbies and buccaneers will give this convention busting broadside a rousing huzzah!"—School Library Journal

From the Publisher