2023 Eric Hoffer Book Award Category Finalist Live the life of a pirate during the golden age of piracy! It’s 1715 and Spain rules the Caribbean. Young Abigail Margaret Mary Pennyworth isn’t happy leaving her friends in England for the New World, but she has no say in where her missionary family goes as the Pennyworths set off for America. Not long before the end of the three-month voyage, their merchant ship is captured by Spanish pirates, and Abby is separated from her family and all she has known. But before she can adjust, the Spanish vessel is captured in turn—by the notorious English pirate Benjamin Hornigold, the leader of the Pirate Republic in Nassau. Hornigold renames the Spanish vessel Mary and decides that, rather than serving Abby to the sharks, he’ll have her serve as a member of his crew. And so starts her new life as the Captain’s cabin boy. Abby’s adventures begin as they seize Spanish vessels in the Caribbean and sail in consort with many of the famous pirates of the day: Blackbeard (Edward Thache), Black Sam Bellamy and his partner, Paulsgrave Williams, Major Stede Bonnet, and Olivier Levasseau. In Nassau, she meets Woodes Rogers, the new governor of the Bahamas, and Hornigold’s Jacobite-sympathizing nemeses, Henry Jennings and Charles Vane. Join Abby as she lives the life of a pirate after Queen Anne’s War. And yes Abby, they do hang pirates—even if they’re girls. Eric Hoffer Book Award Category Finalist 2023 Frey has done a wealth of research on the history of the people, politics, and locations of his story ... [and] includes detailed historical notes and source materials. History lovers, especially those particularly interested in this era, will find great information to help them continue their pursuit of the period's secrets. Frey's writing is easy to read and approachable for upper middle-grade students through adults. The young protagonist will help with the appeal to a younger audience, but the historical details will likely draw in the more mature reader. The history is prominent, and ... those readers who are looking for detailed historical fiction rather than simply an adventure story with historical frosting are going to find exactly what they want in Frey's well-presented book. - US Review of Books Martin A. Frey is Professor Emeritus at The University of Tulsa where he taught for many years at The College of Law. He has written a number of paralegal textbooks, but Captain Hornigold and the Pirate Republic  is his first novel. Professor Frey lives in Tulsa but dreams of moving to the east coast of Florida, purchasing a metal detector, and scouring the beaches after hurricanes for pieces of eight still unclaimed from the 1715 Spanish plate fleet disaster.