My rating: 3.5 of 5 starsA copy of Magic Marks the Spot was provided to me by HarperCollins/Edelweiss for review purposes.After recently being denied admittance to The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates simply because she's a girl, Hilary is now being forced into attending Miss Pimm's Finishing School for Delicate Ladies. Not that she has any desire to become a Delicate Lady. She can tread water for 37 minutes, can tie a knot that cannot be undone and hates dresses because dresses make climbing ship's rigging next to impossible. While Hilary is quite the vibrant character on her own, her gargoyle side-kick provided the comic relief when the story veered too far into weighty territory. The weighty territory mostly involved the odd choice in bad guy, which was a bit of a shock and surprise, however it was handled well. While the story was only occasionally serious, the remaining characters were still just as lighthearted making this a perfect read for young kids. In addition to the story there are between chapter snippets of letters, newspaper articles and other assorted information that was a charming addition.Magic Marks the Spot is an extremely cute Middle Grade novel that comes equipped with a super spunky heroine, entertaining pirates, magical gargoyles and treasure hunting adventures. While this works as a stand-alone novel with its solid wrap-up ending, it's actually a brand new start to a planned trilogy. Definitely looking forward to future mischief from Ms. Hilary!
