Pirate Queen

by Marci Peschke

  Cole looks up at the house. Then he says, “Come on, Kylie Jean, let’s just forget about it.”

  “No way,” I insist. “I’m gonna prove to you that I’m a pirate queen.”

  I knock hard on the door three times. Nothing happens at first, and Cole seems relieved.

  Then we both hear the faint sound of footsteps coming, and Cole looks like he just swallowed my dog parrot. The door swings open.

  Cole takes one look at Mr. Black, whose tall body fills the doorway. When Cole sees the eye patch, he starts to run.

  Mr. Black and I watch him run away.

  “I’m sorry,” Mr. Black says. “I didn’t get the chance to tell him that girls can be pirates, too.”

  “Don’t worry,” I say, smiling up at him. “Now he knows I’m the bravest pirate.”

  “And one of the nicest,” Mr. Black tells me.

  My crew of girl pirates and I go all over the neighborhood gathering candy loot. Granny and Pappy give us extra candy, so we go back and share some with Mr. Black.

  Before long we have been to every house with a porch light on and it is getting late. Aunt Susie will be waiting to take Lucy home. We walk past Cara’s house and drop her off. Paula’s house is on the next street. My first mate Lucy and I are home by eight-thirty.

  When Momma sees the candy piled over the top of my bag, she says, “You better share some of that candy with your brothers. Don’t give Ugly Brother any chocolate. It’s not good for dogs.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” I say.

  Momma sends me upstairs to take a bath and change into my PJs. Tonight I get to stay up late, and so Ugly Brother and I sort our loot. There are piles of candy all around me. My dog parrot keeps sniffing around, but he’s already had eight pieces of candy. That reminds me that gold coins are called pieces of eight.

  When T.J. comes home, I am still awake. I hear him come clomping upstairs. He looks in my room, sees all the candy, and asks, “Where’s my share?”

  “Come on in so you can pick out your own pieces of eight,” I tell him.

  Ugly Brother is running around the room, jumping on the bed, and rolling. I think he ate too much sugar. I did, too, or I’d be asleep already.

  T.J. winks at me and says, “It looks like you gave Ugly Brother more than eight pieces!”

  “Not eight pieces,” I explain. “Pieces of eight. Gold coins!”

  “More pirate talk, Lil’ Bit?” he asks.

  I say, “Yup! Just call me Kylie Jean, the Pirate Queen, because now everyone knows girls can be pirates!”

  T.J. laughs, takes another piece of candy, and says, “Candy Queen is more like it!”

  Marci Bales Peschke was born in Indiana, grew up in Florida, and now lives in Texas with her husband, two children, and a feisty black-and-white cat named Phoebe. She loves reading and watching movies.

  When Tuesday Mourning was a little girl, she knew she wanted to be an artist when she grew up. Now, she is an illustrator who lives in South Pasadena, CA. She especially loves illustrating books for kids and teenagers. When she isn’t illustrating, Tuesday loves spending time with her husband, who is an actor, and their two sons.

  biography (bye-OG-ruh-fee)—a book that tells someone’s life story

  challenge (CHAL-uhnj)—to invite a person to fight or try to do something

  code (KODE)—a set of rules

  hideout (HIDE-out)—a place where someone can hide

  loot (LOOT)—collection of valuables, sometimes stolen

  mysterious (miss-TIHR-ee-uhss)—very hard to explain or understand

  oath (OHTH)—a serious, formal promise

  occasions (uh-KAY-zhuhnz)—times when something happens

  presentations (pree-zen-TAY-shuhnz)—demonstrations of ideas

  sailor (SAY-lur)—someone who works on a ship as a member of the crew

  sharpshooter (SHARP-shoo-tur)—a person who is very skilled at shooting

  1. Kylie Jean wanted to prove that girls can be pirates. What else could she have done?

  2. Talk about girls and boys. Do you think there are things that girls can do that boys can’t, or that boys can do that girls can’t? Explain your answer.

  3. What do you think happens after this story ends? Talk about it!

  1. Kylie Jean’s goal is to be a beauty queen. What’s your number-one dream?

  2. Who is your favorite character in this story? Draw a picture of that person. Then write a list of five things you know about them.

  3. Draw your own pirate map, using your neighborhood as inspiration!

  From Momma’s Kitchen

  This is the perfect treat for any cupcake queen! Just make sure to ask a grown-up for help.

  Love, Kylie Jean

  PIRATE’S LOOT COOKIES

  YOU NEED:

  1 tube of premade cookie dough, sugar cookie flavor

  White frosting

  Food coloring in jewel tones and yellow

  Sugar sprinkles, if desired

  A cookie sheet

  A grown-up helper

  1. Ask your grown-up to bake the cookies as directed, but make them smaller than normal (about the same size as a silver dollar). Cool completely.

  2. While the cookies cool, mix small amounts of frosting with food coloring, creating many different colors. Mix each color in its own bowl.

  3. Decorate each cookie with one color. Green cookies can be emeralds, red cookies can be rubies, and yellow cookies can be gold coins. Add sprinkles if desired.

  Yum, yum!

  www.capstonekids.com

  Kylie Jean is published by Picture Window Books

  A Capstone Imprint

  1710 Roe Crest Drive North Mankato, Minnesota 56003

  www.capstoneyoungreaders.com

  Copyright © 2013 by Picture Window Books

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Peschke, M. (Marci) Pirate queen / by Marci Peschke ; illustrated by Tuesday Mourning. p. cm. -- (Kylie Jean)

  Summary: Inspired by her report on a female pirate, and challenged by a boy in her class, Kylie Jean and her friends decide to form a pirate gang, complete with costumes, a secret hideout, and buried treasure--but when the treasure disappears Kylie makes an important discovery about the local haunted house.

  ISBN 978-1-4048-7581-4 (library binding)

  ISBN 978-1-4048-8103-7 (paper over board)

  ISBN 978-1-4795-1529-5 (ebook PDF)

  ISBN 978-1-4795-2235-4 (ebook)

  1. Pirates--Juvenile fiction. 2. Treasure troves--Juvenile fiction. 3. Elementary schools--Juvenile fiction. 4. Friendship--Juvenile fiction. [1. Pirates--Fiction. 2. Buried treasure--Fiction. 3. Elementary schools--Fiction. 4. Schools--Fiction. 5. Friendship--Fiction.] I. Mourning, Tuesday, ill. II. Title. III. Series: Peschke, M. (Marci) Kylie Jean.

  PZ7.P441245Pir 2013

  813.6--dc23 2012028534

  Graphic Designer: Kristi Carlson

  Editor: Beth Brezenoff

  Production Specialist: Eric Manske

  Design Element Credit:

  Shutterstock/blue67design

  For Sophie, with love for Rick —MP

 

 

 
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