SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water Junior Novel by Nickelodeon Publishing

I n the middle of the bright blue ocean, a pirate ship sat anchored just off the shore of a tiny desert island. Burger Beard, the captain of the ship, eagerly rowed a little wooden boat to the beach.
    The moment the tip of his boat touched the sand, he jumped out, carrying a map and his trusty sword. “At long last,” he said greedily. “The legendary treasure will be mine!”
    Following the map, Burger Beard hacked his way through the thick jungle to the ruins of an ancient temple. At the far end of the temple, a dusty pirate skeleton sat on a magnificent throne, holding an old leather-bound book.
    When he saw the book, Burger Beard’s eyes lit up. “Thar ye be, me lovely!” he whispered. Dancing a happy jig, he made his way across the temple to the throne. Then he cupped his ear and pretended to listen to the silent pirate skeleton.
    â€œOh, what’s that?” he asked. “Take the book? I don’t mind if I do!”
    He yanked the old book out of the skeleton’s hand, and the skeleton collapsed into a pile of bones. If Burger Beard hadn’t been so busy kissing the book, he might have heard a strange sound, like mechanical gears turning and grinding….
    ZWHEET! ZWHEET! ZWHEET!
Poison darts flew straight at Burger Beard!
    But the pirate didn’t notice. He was twirling around, hugging the book to his chest. “It’s mine! Finally, you are MINE!”
    Lucky for the greedy pirate, hundreds of poison darts zipped past, missing him. Giant spikes shot up through the floor of the temple, but none of them skewered Burger Beard. When he had finished his joyful dance with the book, he bowed and a huge spike pierced his hat, narrowly missing his head.
    Burger Beard stood up straight, adjusted his hat, and started to leave with the book.
    Then someone tapped him on the shoulder.
    When he turned around, he saw the pirate skeleton! It had reassembled itself, and now it was waving its bony fists, challenging Burger Beard to a fight.
    â€œBring it on, Skinny,” Burger Beard said, laughing. “You don’t scare me!”
    CRACK!
The skeleton landed a tremendous punch right on Burger Beard’s chin, which sent him flying all the way back to his ship.
THUMP!
The pirate landed hard on the deck.
    He bounced up and shook his fist at the island. “Is that all ya got?” he jeered. He kissed the book one more time, weighed anchor, caught a good stiff wind, and sailed away.
    Satisfied with his course, Burger Beard hit the auto-pirate button on the ship’s steering wheel and sat down in his reading chair. As he opened the ancient volume, several curious seagulls settled around him to listen.
    â€œLet’s see,” he muttered. “How does this story begin?”
    He began to read out loud. “‘Once upon a time under the sea, there was a little town called Bikini Bottom. In this town, there was a place called the Krusty Krab, where folks would come to eat a thing called a Krabby Patty.’”
    The seagulls smiled. They liked this story already!
    â€œâ€˜Every greasy spoon has a fry cook,’” Burger Beard continued, “‘and the one who worked here went by the name of SpongeBob SquarePants. He loved making Krabby Patties, and the good citizens of Bikini Bottom loved eating them, despite their doctors’ warnings.’”
    â€œWhy did the citizens wuv eating Kwabby Patties so much, Mistew Piwate?” asked the littlest seagull, whose name was Kyle.
    Burger Beard looked up from the book. “Well, Kyle, it says right here in the book that it was a secret!”
    â€œOoh, I WUV secwets!” Kyle said.
    Burger Beard resumed reading. “‘No one was sure what was in these patties that made them so delicious. And frankly, no one cared. No one except a tiny guy named Plankton.’”
    Kyle leaned over the pirate’s shoulder to stare at the picture of Plankton in the book. In the drawing, Plankton