Pirates & Mermaids

When I was asked to come up with a theme for one of the library’s summer book displays my immediate thought was pirates! I, like many people, have been obsessed with the show “Our Flag Means Death” since it came out a couple of months ago. It is a comical take on the life of Blackbeard and Captain Stede Bonnet (also known as the Gentlemen Pirate). I was inspired to find some fun swashbuckling books that would bring the excitement of pirate adventures to the library’s patrons.

I tried to cover all the bases: pirate adventures, pirate romances, powerful female pirates, and true stories of real pirates. Yet I was just a few books short of having enough books for a full display. I was devastated. Luckily not too long after, a book called “In Deeper Waters” by F.T. Lukens (YA FIC Luk) was recommended to me. It was a fun YA mermaid romance adventure and I absolutely loved it. Then I thought, what pairs better with pirates than mermaids? There are many good adult and YA books about mermaids and yet I feel like that is a genre we generally think of as only being for children. So I changed my display to Pirates & Mermaids and found an abundance of tales (or maybe tails) for adults to enjoy!

If you are looking for classic pirates you’re going to want to check out “Treasure Island” by Robert Louis Stevenson (FIC Ste), the book that brought pirate fever to the modern literary world. If pirate romance is your thing you definitely won’t want to miss this display. We’ll have plenty of swoon-worthy pirate romance books. One of the most iconic is of course “A Pirates Love” by Johana Lindsey (FIC Lin) where the pirate Tristan sweeps away the beautiful Bettina Verlaine instead of letting her marry a Count she’s never met. There will also be plenty of non-fiction books about real pirates’ escapades. If romance and old-timey pirates aren’t your thing at all, don’t fear, we’ll also be featuring a few futurist sci-fi pirate tales like The “Black God’s Drums by P. Djèlí Clark (FIC Cla).

For our mermaid lovers, we will have many great titles. Of course, the aforementioned “In Deeper Waters” will be included. I am excited to read “The Fate of Stars” by S.D. Simper (FIC Sim) which is about a kidnapped mermaid who must work with a disgraced princess to save her kingdom from coming to ruin. I’m also intrigued by “Sailor Twain: Or: The Mermaid in The Hudson” by Mark Siegel (GN FIC Sie). Who knew there was a story about Mark Twain and a mermaid? In this book, the reclusive author makes an appearance after a riverboat captain rescues an injured mermaid from a port along the Hudson.

If you think one of our swashbuckling pirate or mystical mermaid adventures would interest you, come visit The Crawfordsville District Library during the month of August to take a look at the Pirates & Mermaids Display.

CDPL is open Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. – 9 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Sundays from 1 p.m. – 5 p.m. Stop by and check out your next favorite read.

Emma Lashley is a Library Assistant in the Reference and Local History Department at CDPL.