From School Library Journal
Starred Review. Grade 6-9–This rollicking tale features 16-year-old Artemesia Fitz-Willoughby, alias Art Blastside, who seeks to recapture her deceased mother's piratical lifestyle. A blow to the head awakens in Art memories of storms at sea, a deadly cannon shot, sword fights, distant lands, and stolen riches. Escaping the school chosen by her unsympathetic, detached father, the teen heads for Lundon and adventure. Undaunted by the discovery that her vivid seafaring recollections were stage performances, that her infamous mother, nicknamed Piratica, was not a pirate but an actress, Art seeks to turn fantasy into reality. Through guile and bravado, she hijacks a seaworthy galleon; inspires devotion and toil among her mother's motley crew of actors; demonstrates instinctive skill for sailing, swordplay, and parley; and pursues the rumor of buried treasure. With melodramatic flair, heroes and rogues are introduced and the plot twists and turns. Handsome Felix Phoenix, fleeing mistaken identity as a highway robber, joins the crew and tantalizes Art with his inscrutable, aloof behavior. Little Goldie Girl, pirate captain of the Enemy, is her cutlass-wielding nemesis. Ultimately, the wit and antics of her thespian crew save Art from the hangman's noose. The lively, whimsical narration is filled with a concoction of puns, 18th-century British references and spellings, and a smattering of modern slang. Presented in three acts with multiple scenes, Piratica is a refreshing, tongue-in-cheek, tangled tale that will entice readers who crave adventure and fantasy.–Gerry Larson, Durham School of the Arts, NC Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Gr. 6-10. Set in an alternate world akin to the nineteenth century, Lee's latest novel depends heavily on contrivance, beginning with the first scene: 16-year-old Art bumps her head and suddenly remembers her forgotten childhood, including her mother, a famous pirate. She knows her mother is dead, but she's determined to find the ship crew she remembers. She succeeds, but she's in for a metaphorical head thump. Her mother wasn't a real pirate; she only played one in a long-running stage show. Nonetheless, Art still thirsts for sea life, and she convinces the old stage crew to apply their skills to an authentic ship and try pirate life on real open seas. Perilous treasure hunts, near-death escapes, and a hint of romance ensue. Lee's plot often stretches credibility, and the setting in a "closely parallel world" seems unnecessary. But readers able to overlook the blatant plot manipulations will enjoy a thrilling adventure, which, like Celia Rees' Pirates [BKL D 15 03], lets girls control the main. Find more pirate titles in Ilene Cooper's Read-alikes column "Ship Ahoy" [BKL S 1 04]. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Book Description
Artemesia is the daughter of a pirate queen, and she's sick of practicing deportment at the Angels Academy for Young Maidens. Escaping from the school, she hunts up her mother's crew and breezily commands them out to sea in a leaky boat. Unfortunately, Art's memories of her early life may not be accurate-her seasick crew are actors, and Art's infamous mother was the darling of the stage in a pirate drama. But fiery, pistol-proof Art soon shapes her men into the cleverest pirate crew afloat. And when they meet the dread ship Enemy and her beautiful, treacherous captain, Goldie Girl, Art is certain that her memories are real. The Seven Seas aren't large enough for two pirate queens: Art will have the battle of her life to win her mother's title--and the race for the most fabulous treasure in pirate lore. This gaudy, outrageous tale sparkles with swordplay, skullduggery, and salty language--not to mention over-the-top comedy!

ANNOTATION

A bump on the head restores Art's memories of her mother and the exciting life they led, so the sixteen-year-old leaves Angels Academy for Young Maidens, seeks out the pirates who were her family before her mother's death, and leads them back to adventure on the high seas.

FROM THE CRITICS

Children's Literature - Claudia Mills, Ph.D.

In a "closely parallel" historical world, Miss Artemesia Fitz-Willoughby Weatherhouse, age sixteen, wakes up from a head injury one day at her finishing school in "Lundon" to remember her former life as the daughter of Molly Faith, the daring Piratica, captain of the pirate vessel Unwelcome Stranger. So Art escapes up a chimney and sets out to rejoin her dead mother's crew, now engaged in the unworthy—for pirates—work of advertising coffee on the Pirate Coffee and lead them back to search for treasure on the high seas. What follows is a lengthy series of piratical adventures in "Africay" and "Mad Agash Scar," as Art is pitted against her arch-rival, Little Goldie Girl. The gender roles seem too dutifully reversed, in 1970s feminist fashion: When a former shipmate tells Art, "Fear not, we'll take care of you," she replies haughtily, "I don't need taking care of. I will take care of you." And her reluctant love interest, Felix Phoenix, is a pale and weakly effeminate pacifist, sworn to oppose all things piratical. Art never becomes a character we can become close to or truly care about, and despite her "noble" creed of refusing to kill her enemies, a life of theft and pillage is as morally problematic as Felix recognizes it to be. But fans of Stevenson's Treasure Island should have fun with Piratica, too, and the ending is so gosh-darned satisfying that most readers will join in cheering in spite of themselves. 2004, Dutton, Ages 10 up.

VOYA - Michele Winship

Sixteen-year-old Artemesia Fitz-Willoughby Weatherhouse has spent six years at the Angels Academy for Young Maidens, learning how to walk with good posture, act like a proper lady, and be an ornament to the female gender. That is until she falls down, hits her head, and remembers who she really is-the daughter of Molly Faith, pirate queen of the high seas. Six years earlier aboard Molly's ship Unwelcome Stranger, a cannon blew up, killing Molly, knocking Art senseless, and disbanding the pirates. Art is determined, however, to reassemble Molly's crew and take over where her mother left off, plundering ships but never taking a life. The only problem is that Molly was an actress who performed her adventures nightly on a stage ship with her troupe of made-up pirates. Or was she? As Art becomes Captain Blastside, commandeering a ship and reenlisting the crew that has been hawking Pirate Coffee, she seems to have knowledge of the pirate life that only the true Piratica could have imparted. Emboldened and determined, she leads her crew over the high seas in search of a great pirate treasure while in constant battle with her pirate rival, Goldie Girl. Lee's over-the-top storybook prose allows readers to enter the parallel world of a not-quite England of the early 1800s and to join an unlikely band of "pirates" on their adventures across the seas. Told in three acts, this swashbuckling tale follows Art's coming into her own as a pirate queen and a young woman. VOYA CODES: 3Q 4P M J S (Readable without serious defects; Broad general YA appeal; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2004, Dutton, 320p., Ages 11 to18.

School Library Journal

Gr 6-9-This rollicking tale features 16-year-old Artemesia Fitz-Willoughby, alias Art Blastside, who seeks to recapture her deceased mother's piratical lifestyle. A blow to the head awakens in Art memories of storms at sea, a deadly cannon shot, sword fights, distant lands, and stolen riches. Escaping the school chosen by her unsympathetic, detached father, the teen heads for Lundon and adventure. Undaunted by the discovery that her vivid seafaring recollections were stage performances, that her infamous mother, nicknamed Piratica, was not a pirate but an actress, Art seeks to turn fantasy into reality. Through guile and bravado, she hijacks a seaworthy galleon; inspires devotion and toil among her mother's motley crew of actors; demonstrates instinctive skill for sailing, swordplay, and parley; and pursues the rumor of buried treasure. With melodramatic flair, heroes and rogues are introduced and the plot twists and turns. Handsome Felix Phoenix, fleeing mistaken identity as a highway robber, joins the crew and tantalizes Art with his inscrutable, aloof behavior. Little Goldie Girl, pirate captain of the Enemy, is her cutlass-wielding nemesis. Ultimately, the wit and antics of her thespian crew save Art from the hangman's noose. The lively, whimsical narration is filled with a concoction of puns, 18th-century British references and spellings, and a smattering of modern slang. Presented in three acts with multiple scenes, Piratica is a refreshing, tongue-in-cheek, tangled tale that will entice readers who crave adventure and fantasy.-Gerry Larson, Durham School of the Arts, NC Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews