Jolly is a pirate. Bought in a slave market as a young child she has been brought up by the dashing pirate Captain Bannon. During her years onboard the Maid Maddy she has learnt many of the skills necessary for a pirate but her greatest talent is one she has had all of her life – Jolly is a polliwiggle; a person who can quite literally walk on water. Lead to believe she is the last of her kind still alive she as learned to keep her abilities hidden but when the crew of the Maid Maddy are ambushed and everyone killed she starts to think that maybe the true target of the attack is herself.

Washed up, nearly dead, onto a small island she is rescued by a young boy, Munk, who also turns out to be a polliwiggle. However, despite the remote location someone discovers the truth about the pair and, after Munk’s parents are murdered the two polliwiggles decide to try and discover the true identity of the person behind the attacks.

Soon the pair find themselves in the middle of a swashbuckling adventure where they meet up with a number of unusual characters and together they determine to discover the truth.

The Wave Runners is the first book in a wonderful pirate trilogy by author Kai Meyer. Originally written in German the story has been sympathetically translated and manages to maintain the sense of adventure and excitement throughout the book.

Initially, when I read that the crux of the story were two children who could walk on water I was a little concerned that it could be a little silly. However, the overwhelming feel of the book is something akin to Pirates of the Caribbean and Captain Jack certainly wouldn’t have been out of place!

This is a super story. Ideally for children of around 8 – 10 years of age, there is nothing in the story to cause offence. It has excitement, a little bit of danger and plenty of scope for good accents if read as a bedtime story. Go on - give your acting skills a dust-off. The kids will love it!

Synopsis
The pirates in the Caribbean have a name for kids who can walk on water - they call them polliwiggles. As far as 14-year-old Jolly knows, she’s the last polliwiggle alive - and this makes her invaluable to the pirate captain who raised her. When Jolly’s ship falls into a trap, only she escapes. Washed up on a tiny island, she meets Munk, who has been raised almost in hiding. His parents forbid Munk to reveal that he is also a polliwiggle. But evil forces are stirring in the Caribbean. When a demon from the sea kills Munk’s parents, Jolly and Munk wonder if the creature was really after them. Why are the polliwiggles so valuable, and who wants them enough to kill for them? Soon the teens find themselves sailing with a motley crew of pirate ghost-traders, fleeing from a pirate emperor and trying to stop the advance of an ancient, malevolent force known as the Maelstrom.