<EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">PW called this story, of an orphaned girl who assumes the name Jack after her gang's leader is killed and takes to the high seas, "a salty tale." Ages 12-up. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(June)

"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 <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">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. Ages 12-up. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Sept.)

Gr 6-8-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.-Kit Vaughan, Chesterfield County Public Schools, VA Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Starred Review At the age of 12 or so, Mary lives by her wits, begging and stealing on the streets of London, and sleeps under Blackfriars Bridge with a small gang of orphans. When her friend Charlie is murdered, she dons his clothes, calls herself Jacky Faber, and signs on as a ship's boy on the Dolphin, a Royal Navy frigate. In addition to dealing with the challenges of learning how to do her job and stay out of trouble, she must hide her gender while dealing with unexpected changes in her body and her emotions. When she falls in love with one of her shipmates and reveals her secret to him, the two of them have even more to hide. From shooting a pirate in battle to foiling a shipmate's sexual attack to surviving when stranded alone on a Caribbean island, the action in Jacky's tale will entertain readers with a taste for adventure. Phrases from old ballads echo through the text as well as some of the chapter headings, adding to the period feel of the telling. A first novel with a strong voice that is also a memorable piece of historical fiction.

Mary's family dies of the pestilence in the eighteenth century, forcing her to join a gang of ragamuffins living in London's underbelly. When the leader is killed, Mary dresses as a boy and gets a job in the Royal Navy, calling herself Jacky (which is changed to Bloody Jack when she kills a man). Stock minor characters allow the plot to sail along at a fast clip. The abrupt ending ties up the plot but hints at more adventures to come.

Posing as a lad in the late 1790s, a spunky orphan girl secures a job as a ship's boy in the British Navy, a position that becomes compromised by her evolving maturity and love for a fellow crewmember. Meyer, a debut novelist, has penned a rousing old-time girl's adventure story, with an outsized heroine who is equal parts gutsy and vulnerable, then sets her loose on a pirate-hunting vessel in the high seas. The novel is full of action and derring-do, but the real suspense is generated by maintaining what the heroine calls "The Deception," her disguise as a boy. Initially, it's fairly easy because Jacky, as the heroine decides to call herself, is as flat-chested, hairless, and high-voiced as the rest of the boys. She simulates using the ship's head, imitating the boys' "shake-and-wiggle action" and even creates a faux penis out of cloth under her drawers, so that she's as "well rigged out" as the rest of the lads. Clever and courageous, Jacky deals with both the ship's bully and pedophile, fights pirates valiantly, and manages to save the day for her shipmates, enabling them to secure the buccaneers' booty. Jacky is such a marvelous creation that the other characters feel shadowy in comparison, and the least engaging parts of the novel involve her secret romance with a fellow ship's boy. Capped by a fitting but bittersweet ending, the first-person narrative shines, and a wealth of historical research is seamlessly knitted into the material. A first-rate read. (Fiction. 12+)