Blackbeard’s Last Fight by Eric A. Kimmel

Bibliography

Kimmel, Eric A. BLACKBEARD’S LAST FIGHT. New York City: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 2006. ISBN-13: 978-0-374-30780-6.


Plot Summary

In Kimmel’s imaginative book, he explores the legend of Blackbeard, the most feared pirate. Kimmel introduces Jeremy Hobbs, a young boy, who assists Lt. Robert Maynard of the Royal Navy on a visit to Virginia’s Governor Spotswood. The governor was looking for a brace man who could lead his sailors out and wipe the pirates out of their waters. These pirates include the villainous Blackbeard. Maynard is selected to lead men into the battle on the high seas and Jeremy continues to be Maynard’s youngest shipmate. When Maynard’s ship meets Blackbeard and his men, the battle ensues with men going overboard. Blackbeard tells his men to clear out Jeremy’s ship – a fight to the death! Blackbeard sees Jeremy and tells him to hide inside the ship because Blackbeard fights men, not children. Jeremy ends up proving his true worth to Maynard by hitting Blackbeard when he looked to the men on the ship for the fight.


Critical Analysis

The story shows that children can be strong and courageous, even when others think they are just a child. Jeremy shows his fearlessness to help defeat Blackbeard even thought he’d heard stories about Blackbeard’s good deeds. This shows children that courage is an important characteristic to have and even someone young can possess.

The illustrations, done by Leonard Everett Fisher, are dream-like which allow readers to feel like a part of the fairy tale that was the story of Blackbeard. The drawings of Blackbeard make him look terrifying without overtly doing so. For example, he is described as having hair that is on fire at the bottom which you can clearly see in the pictures. He isn’t so scary, however, that it’s hard to look at. The fight at sea was well done with the bodies flying into the ocean, but not being too scary for younger readers.


Review Excerpts

Publisher’s Weekly: “Hoarders of pirate lore will appreciate Blackbeard's Last Fight by Eric A. Kimmel, illus. by Leonard Everett Fisher, the team behind two other grand legends, The Hero Beowulf and Don Quixote and the Windmills. Author and artist create a fictional cabin boy who, off the coast of 1718 North Carolina, helps to capture and extinguish Blackbeard the pirate, whom Fisher portrays as menacing indeed.”

Connections

· Read the other books written and illustrated by Kimmel and Fisher: Rip Van Winkle’s Return and The Hero Beowulf.
· Have students write their own pirate stories, putting themselves in Jeremy’s shoes. How would the students show courage?
· Break students into groups to discuss what they would have done if they met Blackbeard.