Miya Black

Adventure Dawns (2010) is the first in the Miya Black, Pirate Princess series by BJK White. It deals with the misadventures of one Miya Black, self-proclaimed pirate and princess of somewhat dubious royal lineage.

Miya lives on Clover Island with her parents, ex-princess Lilith Black nee Brightburn and ex-pirate Tomas Black. The story goes that around fifteen years ago Tomas met Lilith and stole her away from her parents, and together they eventually decided to create their own kingdom on a little island in the Rainbow Archipelago. Miya was born shortly afterwards, and grew up as the princess of the island, splitting her time between learning about princess-y things like royal laws and pirate-y things like sailing, fighting, swimming etc.

Everything in her life seems to be going pretty well, until her fourteenth birthday. That's when the news that a pirate by the name of Badger Pete has attacked the northern islands and is heading their way. Miya sets out to find a way to stop him, deciding to enlist the help of her paternal grandparents--who happen to be legendary pirates.

More about the book can be found at http://www.cloverisland.co.nz.


 * Action Girl: Miya.
 * Ancestral Weapon
 * Badass Bookworm: Sola, kind of.
 * Badass Family: The Blacks.
 * Barehanded Blade Block
 * Battle in the Rain
 * Beauty Equals Goodness: Not quite. Grace is described as being much prettier than Miya, but she's certainly not the good one.
 * Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Averted. Miya gets pretty beat up in some of her fights, and certainly shows the effects of her wounds. By the end of the book she's a complete mess. To be fair she's not really described as 'beautiful' to begin with, but still.
 * Blade Lock
 * Brother-Sister Team: Miya and Sola.
 * Catchphrase: For Miya "I do NOT give up" and "Come at me, if you have the heart" or variations thereof.
 * Chekhov's Gun: Quite a few.
 * Cool Old Lady: Jean Scarlet.
 * Cool Sword: Not as flashy or fantastic as some, but the ROYAL Amician Straight Sabre Miya is given by her father probably counts
 * Cute Bruiser: Miya, to a certain extent.
 * Daddy's Little Villain: Grace.
 * Dark Action Girl: Grace.
 * Designated Girl Fight: Averted. Wouldn't Hit a Girl doesn't seem to be an issue in the world of Miya Black.
 * Everything's Better with Princesses
 * Gentle Giant: Sola.
 * Get A Hold Of Yourself Girl: A somewhat rare male-on-female example.
 * Hard Work Hardly Works: Averted. Miya is a good fighter in part because she practices every chance she gets, and was taught by two master swordsmen since she could hold a sword.
 * Honorary Uncle: Lars.
 * 100% Adoration Rating: The Black family seems to have this.
 * In the Blood: Miya has both royal and piratical ancestry.
 * Ironic Echo: Many.
 * It Was a Gift: Miya's birthday presents, but especially her father's sword.
 * Mama Bear: Lilith.
 * Master Swordsman: Quite a few characters.
 * Meaningful Echo
 * Modest Royalty
 * Muscles Are Meaningless: Averted? Subverted? Miya is very short and petite, described as having a narrow waist (her father's sword belt only just barely fits her on the tightest buckle) and narrow shoulders. This doesn't stop her from being strong enough to drive a sword through a person's shoulder. However, larger characters are portrayed as being stronger than her--Badger Pete's blows are described as being so strong that parrying them actually hurts.
 * Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Miya is a pirate AND a princess, for a given value of either.
 * Papa Wolf: Tomas.
 * Pirate Girl: Miya.
 * Pirates: Well, yes.
 * Plucky Girl: Miya.
 * Retired Badass: Heartless Jon.
 * Royal Blood: Miya's mother is the princess of Brightburn, although according to Miya her royal status has been 'cancelled'.
 * Royals Who Actually Do Something
 * A Storm Is Coming
 * Shout-Out: Lots, especially to the Monkey Island games.
 * Talking Your Way Out
 * Talk Like a Pirate
 * This Is Sparta: Miya likes this trope. ("THERE! ARE! RULES!")
 * What's Up, King Dude?: Seems likely.
 * Wretched Hive: Biscuit Cove.
 * You Fight Like a Cow