Parker Rossman (1919–2013)

Parker Rossman's Pirate Slave is set in a period that children's historical fiction doesn't usually treat. Alexander ("Sandy"), a young cabin boy aboard the Essex, is the only person left alive after a pirate attack in 1805. Stripped of everything familiar, Sandy is enslaved by the Muslim captain Khalil and renamed Skander. Slowly he begins to adjust to his new life — often dangerous, sometimes brutal, but always fascinating. His golden locks make him a novelty in that part of the world, and as he is being kept to be sold at a high price at the end of the voyage, he has time to learn the Muslim way of life, get to know his fellow slave Uri and the crew, and observe the pirates' slave trade in children.

It was a bloody time where whippings, maimings, and beatings were not only common but expected. The slave trade was flourishing but its demise was on the horizon with the British navy closing in. The slavery subtext is stronger than I remember, as Skander declares that it's wrong and no one is safe as long as there are slaves in the world. As the story progresses, Rossman is able to show some humanity in the bloody, children-beating pirates, which is actually quite a feat. Interestingly enough, Skander's story is based on a true one in all its essentials.

I loved this book growing up and was thrilled to find my own copy. I still think it's a good piece of historical fiction, but as an adult I was a little more put off by the violence. It's never gratuitous and Rossman was no doubt being faithful to the period, which I applaud. But ugh, what awful things were done to children. I'm probably more sensitive to it now that I'm a mother myself. I don't see myself rereading this any time soon, but I'll certainly keep it for my son.… (meer)