Missing at Sea - Justin Somper

The whole of Pirate Academy is abuzz with anticipation for the upcoming Oceans Bound weekend. It’s the first time the young pirate apprentices of Barracuda Class will set sail as five independent crews – with no teacher oversight! Excitement reaches fever-pitch as Commodore Kuo and Captain Salt reveal which of the fifteen Barracudas will act as captains for Oceans Bound. Jacoby is devastated when he isn’t picked, which makes things difficult for Jasmine when she is chosen. But worse, much worse, is in store, when Jasmine is told that her Uncle Noah – a ringleader of the League of True Pirates – has, against all odds, broken out of the Pirate Federation’s maximum security prison. Fearing that he will try to make contact with Jasmine, the Head and Deputy give Jasmine the chance to opt out of Oceans Bound. But Jasmine is not about to let her renegade uncle ruin everything. The five Barracuda crews set sail with hope and adventure in their hearts, beginning a complex trail of tasks, each delivered to its crew via a note in a coloured glass bottle. For one crew, the tasks quickly become much more dangerous. As they bravely navigate poisonous snakes, venomous spiders, sharks and skulls, it becomes clear that someone else is now in control of Oceans Bound. It’s going to take everything they’ve got for our plucky young pirates to complete the course and triumph against their fiendish enemy.