Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer

Bibliography

Meyer, L.A. BLOODY JACK: BEING AN ACCOUNT OF THE CURIOUS ADVENTURES OF MARY “JACKY” FABER, SHIP’S BOY. New York: Graphia, 2010.

Plot Summary

After being orphaned in London and left on the street, Mary Faber is taken in as a ship boy. Life is hard on the ship, but she is taken under the wing of Rooster who treats her like family. Mary disguises herself as a boy to continue to stay on the ship. Soon, she comes back to the ship after killing a pirate to defend her shipmate covered in blood and nicknamed “Bloody Jack”.

Critical Analysis

From the Prologue on, Meyer does not hold back, but jumps right in to the harsh world of living on the high seas. There is blood and fighting and poor Mary being abandoned and orphaned. In the past few years, particularly with The Pirates of the Caribbean movies, pirates have been brought to the forefront of popular culture. Told in first person, Jacky has the speech of a ship boy down pat. At first a bit distracting, after a few pages it becomes expected and necessary to the story.

Meyer’s story easily fits into the pirate genre. Jacky is a likeable character that shows readers that even someone young can be brave in the face of adversity. Jacky was put under enormous pressure to survive for herself and shows she was able to do so. While the characters in the book are a ragamuffin team, it is easy to like them. Rooster really steps up to become a great influence in keeping Jacky safe and being able to survive on the ship. The book has a lot of action with interesting characters. It makes for an enjoyable read, but one that is deep and fulfilling. Like the movies in the pirate pop culture, this book shows life on the high seas as it was while making it something worth reading.

Review Excerpts

“"I prays for deliverance," confides Mary Faber, orphaned at eight years old by a pestilence that relegates her to a life of begging and petty crime on the streets of London. After her gang's leader is killed, she dons his clothing, trading in the name Mary for Jack, and takes to the high seas aboard the HMS Dolphin. Meyer evokes life in the 18th-century Royal Navy with Dickensian flair. He seamlessly weaves into Jacky's first-person account a wealth of historical and nautical detail at a time when pirates terrorized the oceans. Interspersed are humorous asides about her ongoing struggle to maintain "The Deception" (she fashions herself a codpiece and emulates the "shake-and-wiggle action" of the other boys when pretending to use the head, for instance), she earns her titular nickname in a clash with pirates and survives a brief stretch as a castaway before her true identity is discovered (the book ends as she's about to be shipped off to a school for young ladies in Boston). The narrative's dialect occasionally falters, but this detracts only slightly from the descriptive prose ("He's got muscles like a horse and looks to have a brain to match") and not at all from the engine driving this sprawling yarn: the spirited heroine's wholly engaging voice. Her budding sexuality (which leads to a somewhat flawed plotline involving a secret shipboard romance) and a near-rape by a seaman mark this one for older readers, who will find the salty tale a rattling good read.– Publisher’s Weekly

“With the plague running rampant in London in 1797, Mary's parents and sister are soon counted among the dead. Left alone and penniless, the eight-year-old is taken in by a gang of orphans and learns survival skills. However, when their leader is killed, Mary decides to try her luck elsewhere. She strips the dead body, cuts her hair, renames herself Jack Faber, and is soon employed as a ship's boy on the HMS Dolphin. When the vessel sees its first skirmish with a pirate ship, her bravery saves her friend Jaimy and earns her the nickname "Bloody Jack." Told by Mary/Jack in an uneven dialect that sometimes doesn't ring true, the story weaves details of life aboard the Dolphin. Readers see how she changes her disguise based on her own physical changes and handles the "call of nature," her first experiences with maturation, and the dangers to boys from unscrupulous crew members. The protagonist's vocabulary, her appearance and demeanor, and her desire to be one of the boys and do everything they do without complaint complete the deception. This story also shows a welcome slant to this genre with an honorable, albeit strict Captain, and ship's mates who are willing and able teachers. If readers are looking for a rousing, swashbuckling tale of pirates and adventures on the high seas, this title falls short. However, it is a good story of a brave ship's "boy" with natural leadership abilities and a sense of fair play and humanity.” – School Library Journal

Connections

· Read the other books in the Bloody Jack series: Curse of the Blue Tattoo: Being an Account of the Misadventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman and Fine Lady; Under the Jolly Roger: Being an Account of the Nautical Adventures of Jacky Faber; In the Belly of the Bloodhound: Being an Account of the Particularly Peculiar Adventure in the Life of Jacky Faber.
· Compare the life of Jacky’s at sea to the lives of other people at sea. How is her life different from that in The Pirates of the Caribbean?