Midnight Book Reader: Harry the Pirate Captain

Harry the hairiest strongest pirate and his intrepid crew are off to battle a Kraken and other hairy adventures

Harry and the Kraken

Harry the Pirate Captain Book 1

by Philip L. Hutson

Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy Adventure

Harry, the strongest, bravest, and hairiest pirate, is the legendary captain of the Flying Dragon. He is always on the hunt for adventure and treasure but never at the expense of his crew or the target of his pirating. One day, while celebrating a large haul in their favorite pub, a stranger stumbles in. He tells them he lost his whole crew in a heroic battle against an evil, man-eating kraken. Harry and his loyal crew don’t hesitate to avenge the crew and remove the threat. Before they even get out to the open ocean they encounter a mysterious stranger. The stranger, who isn’t quite what he seems, keeps the ship's crew guessing what he will do next. The flying dragon starts the voyage by trying to avoid detection by spies or pirate hunters. They are surprised to find a Royal Navy pirate hunter in a Spanish port where it does not belong. The crew prepares for a fight and a certain defeat. In what appears to be dumb luck the stranger causes a cannon to fire and make an incredible shot that disables a Royal Navy man-o-war. Harry and the Kraken is a lighthearted fantasy and an introduction to Harry’s magical universe.

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Harry Breaks a Jail

Harry the Pirate Captain Book 2

Legendary pirate captain Harry vows to rescue a crew of pirates from a Spanish prison. During their journey to rescue the prisoners, Harry and his crew encounter a group of displaced people with surprising connections to his quartermaster and their unassuming cargo master. As they continue their journey, they rescue a pair of brothers from a ghost ship who, despite their small stature, help save the crew from evil harpies. Just when their hopes are high, everything falls apart, and Harry and the crew are captured. Now, Harry must rescue himself, his crew, and the imprisoned pirates he swore to free. "Harry Breaks a Jail" continues the thrilling saga of Harry and his loyal band of pirates.

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“Harry and the Kraken”, started out as a response to the request “Tell me a story” from my grandson. He then gave me the parameters of a story about pirates and a Kraken. Then when I asked what the captain’s name should be, he pointed at my hairy legs and said “Harry”.

I started to tell him the story but ran out of time. With a promise to finish it and send an email to his mother with the rest, I started working on it. I originally intended it to be a simple one-page story. I realized it would be much more than that when I got to chapter 4 and hadn’t really gotten into the story.

The illustrations in the first book, “Harry and the Kraken” are by my grandson and by some brothers who were early beta readers. The story is for my grandson primarily so to improve it I had some middle-graders (the brothers included) read it and give me feedback. Once the brothers read it they wanted to add more illustrations.

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