In 1968, why did a gently raised southern girl quit collage, run away to sea, and join a scurvy crew of pirates, searching for sunken treasure and running contraband? Why did she allow the first mate to tie her in the crow's-nest during a fierce tropical storm? Why did she flee the Bahamas in the cover of night, fall through a beaver dam during a Rocky Mountain blizzard, and hide out in a Colorado wilderness cave with her good dog, Rocky Raccoon?

Wren Godfrey Chapman told herself it was to escape the tragedy of the war in Vietnam and her failed engagement to the love of her young life. But then again, maybe it was to assuage her rebellious case of wanderlust.

With a strong female voice and sense of place in the Carolinas, Florida, Colorado, and the Bahamas, Pirate Girl describes a lifelong process of discovery through the adventurous lessons of Earth School.