Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship's Boy

by L.A. Meyer

Book Overview

Life as a ship's boy aboard HMS Dolphin is a dream come true for Jacky Faber. Gone are the days of scavenging for food and fighting for survival on the streets of eighteenth-century London. Instead, Jacky is becoming a skilled and respected sailor as the crew pursues pirates on the high seas.
There's only one problem: Jacky is a girl. And she will have to use every bit of her spirit, wit, and courage to keep the crew from discovering her secret...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 015205085X
• ISBN13: 9780152050856
• Release Date: June 2010
• Publisher: Clarion Books
• Length: 301 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.2"
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 and higher

Customer Reviews

Masterpiece in storytelling.

I’m nearly 40 years old and of the 600+ books I’ve read, will admit these books are definitely in the top 5 I’ve ever read. The audiobooks are narrator so well, it might actually might make it number 1. It’s that amazing and epic. Everyone I recommend these books to, absolutely loves them. Every time I see a copy at a used bookstore, I buy it to give away.

Love the series, but this listed edition's source gave me paperback instead of hardback

I love the Bloody Jack series. It's a great historical fiction YA series with a fun protagonist and lots of adventures, one of my favorites! I don't want to rate the book itself low because I've reread it many times over the years. I also fully intend to recommend it to any of-age kids of my friends and keep them for my own future children. But I recently rebought this book after losing my copy a year ago to lending it out and then moving. I was sent the paperback version of this book instead of the hardback version I ordered. I didn't pay much, so I'm not upset at that, and it's nice to have the story again since I had donated my first copy when I last found a hardback version several years ago. But I've waited MONTHS for a hardback version of this cover to be available so I could finish off my full set since I couldn't find it in stores. It is the only one of the 12 I don't have. 😢 Looks like I will need to look from another source...

The book is GREAT, but I was given paperback instead of a hardcover

I already own this book in paperbook. I love it. I think this series is amazing and saucy. It shows a strong protagonist that makes mistakes, but is willing to admit she was wrong which I do enjoy. She can be both kind and cruel in an understandable way. I ordered a hardcover book, but I was given a paperback and that is infuriating.

ADVENTURE

This is a wonderfull book and the first of the Jacky Faber adventures it has a fabulous story line and it makes you laugh and just it brings joy when ever you read it. It has a very interesting main character with spunk and a wonderful persionality. This is a must rad. It is about a gilr that becomes homeless after her familey dies.She is picked up buy a gang and becomes friend but when the leader is murdered she cant take it any more and she cuts her head and becomes a ship's boy. She had to pretend to be a boy and has a very hard time doing so. It is a funny book and you become all of the characters friends it has such description and detail and emotion it is as if the charactor is actualy writing the book. There are two other book that I know of that follow this book The curse of the blue tatoo and Under the jolly rodger. also wonderful books.

Curious adventures, indeed

The Jacky of the title was born Mary Faber, whose life turned upside down when a pestilence in 1797 left her orphaned and homeless. She turned to the streets, surviving for a few years by begging, brawling and occasionally stealing on the dirty streets of London. But she lost her taste for that life when her best mate was "done for" by a vile city graverobber, and with few options remaining she hacked away her hair, changed her name, lied about her age and secured a post as a ship's boy on HMS Dolphin. It's not an adventure-a-minute kind of book, nor will you see Jacky single-handedly besting entire pirate crews with her little knife. The book has a stronger sense of reality to it than that; Jacky has adventures, yes, but author L.A. Meyer never makes the mistake of making her superhuman. She makes mistakes, she runs afoul of bad circumstances, she feels fear. The dangers that threaten are very real, and the tone of the book sometimes is very dark. But through it all, she remains a plucky, cheerful girl, bouncing quickly back from misfortune, who loves to eat, dance and feel the wind in her face. Bloody Jack is a a rollicking good time, a colorful yarn with a lively protagonist and a boatload of action. Once begun, the book is difficult to put down; once completed, it's hard not to leap immediately into the next in the series.

One terrific swashbuckler! One amazing Ship's Girl!

I'm not normally a reader of sea stories, though I have read a few. All that technical ship information about mizzens, and fo'c's'les, and spankers, and such caused my eyes to blur and my head to hurt; however, not so in this wonderful novel. I can easily follow her duties around the HMS Dolphin and her simple explanations about the ship's rigging. Jacky is a dear girl and her daily observations about life on land and aboard the HMS Dolphin and her "Deception" are informative, entertaining, and humorous. She's a gutsy young woman who somehow survives the many scrapes and dangerous situations she manages to get herself into. While Jacky is tough on the outside, she is still all girl on the inside, which makes her also tender when she needs to be. She's loyal to her mates and cheerful no matter what. We share in her love of life and cheer her on. We also feel her sadness...as when, after having fallen deeply in love with Jaime, she is separated from him at the end. I'm sure this part brought a tear to many a reader's eye. I'm currently reading book two: CURSE OF THE BLUE TATTOO. It's even more packed with misadventures than the first book. Keep writng Mr. Meyer! I can't get enough of Jacky Faber.

Fabulous seagoing adventure story

Bloody Jack is, without any doubt, the best kid's book I've read since the last Harry Potter. In fact, it holds its own with Harry. It is told by its heroine - a 12 year old girl named Mary Faber who was abandonned on the streets of early 19th century London when her parents died of fever. She tells how she was taken in by a street gang where she gets tough and street wise for five years. At the start of the book, the gang leader is killed. She figures her chances are better as a boy so she cuts off her hair, changes her name to Jacky, and makes her way to the docks where she talks her way on board a British Navy vessel because she can read.She is one of six cabin boys - mostly street kids who are thrilled to have a chance to eat regularly. They can't believe their luck to be paid as well. During their three year voyage - a mission to chase down pirates, they learn to climb rigging, work as powder monkeys in sea battles with pirates, do all kinds of work on deck and hope to improve their lot by becoming able-bodied seamen and regular members of the crew.At the same, Jacky has to figure out how to keep her secret while her breasts are developing and she starts her period. She also develops a serious crush on the oldest of the cabin boys - a quiet lad who is the younger son of a real family.In the process she has all kinds of adventures. The crew battles pirates. (She gets her nickname from shooting a pirate during a battle.) The boys have to learn to handle the discipline of the British Navy where they are junior to everyone including the 14 year old midshipmen - one of whom is a complete bully. They get shore leave in exotic ports like Jamaica. Their conversations about religion and education as they puzzle out the ways of the world are hilariously funny.Jacky has to use all her ingenuity to keep her secret and survive on board ship. She is courageous, smart, strong and a natural born leader. And she has a sharp, funny voice of her own that tells the story in the manner of a girl who has learned to express herself from London street talk, ballads, newspapers and cheap novels.One of the best aspects of the book is its portrayal of an adventurous girl who likes being a girl - not a girl who has always wanted to be a boy. There are too many stories where femininity is a synonym for weakness and the girl prevails by adopting male behavior. Not this one.Jacky acts like herself and - because everyone THINKS she's a boy, they simply deal with it. She likes to sew and decides to make herself a uniform when she starts growing out of her clothes. Do the officers and crew think she is a weak sissy? Nope. Sailors had to sew. The captain issues her more fabric and gives her the job of outfitting the rest of the cabin boys.In one of the battles, the ship takes a cannon shot that blasts a hole in the side of the vessel. The whole crew is put to manning the pumps. Jacky simply doesn't have the strength to manage. Is this a problem? Nope.

If you want Adventure, then read this book

One of the best action-adventure books that I've ever read. It was really hard for me to put this book down and I recommend this book to anybody that liked Huck Finn. The story puts the reader right into the text, along with any of the unforgetable characters that you come across in this YA novel.I recommend this book to any Middle School teacher that wants to spice up his/her classroom.