Pirate's Plot, Vol. 2 »

Mr. Taylor is the new teacher in Leo's class, and he has a special knack for spinning a yarn. He can build an intriguing plot around any selection of items that his students choose. A pirate ship, a brass key, a six-toed cat, a hunk of cheese, and a mop. That's all it takes for Mr. Taylor to capture his students' imaginations and prove the power of a story.

This time, Mr. Taylor tells them the tale of a boy trapped on a pirate's ship. The boy stows away on a rig headed for the high seas, and he finds himself deep in adventure.

Children's Literature

Mr. Taylor is a popular teacher, and one of his many talents is storytelling. His "Taylor-Made Tales" are always based on five items decided by a student. In this story, Leo chooses a brass key, a six-toed cat, a hunk of cheese, a mop, and a pirate ship. Mr. Taylor spins a tale about a stowaway named Tom. When Tom overhears some sailors talking about their trip to Barbados, he cannot resist his urge to run away. Strangely, Tom's predicament seems to mirror Leo's own dilemma. The book begins with Leo's announcement that he's quitting the soccer team. The action flips between Leo's story and Mr. Taylor's tale. The transitions build suspense, and will have readers wondering what happens to both Tom and Leo. A tidy conclusion resolves the problems, and Mr. Taylor manages to wow his class with another custom tale. Other than a classroom full of kids who are unusually well behaved and extremely polite to each other, the stories of both Tom and Leo ring true.