BOOK REVIEW: Jack Ferrington and the School for Swabbies by Clint Perry

Where do pirates learn to be pirates? Pirate school of course! Welcome to School for Swabbies where the highest grade you'll get is the Sea. Jack Ferrington dreams of cannons, parlay, treasure hunting, sword fights and more. He’s had his fill of elementary school and is ready to move on to Moray Middle, home of the “Fighting Eels”, where adventure awaits in the unlikeliest of places. Real pirates are the instructors! Real danger around every corner! Are you ready to join Jack on his first day at pirate school? We can't wait to have you join Jack and his friends at Moray Middle School, home of the "Fighting Eeels"

So, let's talk about this interesting book that I let the Munchkin pick out from NetGalley to read and review with me.  He's not done a review in a very long time and well, the other Minions of Mayhem are not around.  I was pretty excited when he chose this book from the list I'd put together for him and we jumped in reading pretty quickly.  We managed to read it in a few hours over two weekends.  It was a bit wordy for a middle grade book but that doesn't deter Munch at all, unless of course it was his turn to be reading out loud.

As he's reading over my shoulder he's insisting its his turn to tell me what to write.  I'm half tempted to make him write it himself but alas, I don't really need grammar and typing errors to have to go back and correct.  Here's his say.  He wants to rate it 4.5 stars.  The reason being is that he thinks he knew from the beginning the big mystery of who a certain character (Max) is.  "It's kinda cool because I really enjoy pirate books and I also like it because it had all the feelings of school.  From the awkward bus driver, the yelling principal, and the size of the school makes their sneaking around hard but so much like real school."  He also things that it's really cool that the first graders get to go to sixth grade. Getting to handle things like gun powder and the fun math game would be cool.  He laughed at the food fight which he feels gave a light moment of funniness.  He thought it was weird to wear a hollowed out octopus as a backpack.  Honestly, if the chance to go to pirate school here in the Midwest came available he'd be all over it.  He thinks they should make a movie out of it.

From the grown up perspective.  I really did enjoy the book.  It was lighthearted and perfectly aimed at this new 9 year old Sheldon Jr driving me nuts as I write this.  It was an easy read giving a struggling reader the confidence of reading a 'chapter' book, though I do feel that the chapters were ever so long sometimes.  The story dragged a little for me and seemed so wordy for one day of school.  However, I really liked this story line and hope to see additional books to perhaps make this a series.  


I was provided a complimentary copy of this book by NetGalley.  I was not compensated for this review and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.  I was not required to write a positive review.


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About Clint Perry

Clint Perry, lead singer and writer for The Boo Hoo Crew and Author of both picture books for toddlers and preschooler as well as middle-grade novels about pirate adventures. He also writes and produces CCM songs that can be found at www.clintjustclint.com. For further information on his other projects please visit www.boohoocrew.com or www.schoolforswabbies.com

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