Mary "Jacky" Faber, an orphan, finds herself pretending to be a boy on a British Naval ship. She must conceal her maturing body while living in close quarters with the other ship's boys. Mary "Jacky" Faber must rise to the challenge of becoming a man on board a ship of all men while fighting off pirates. With humor and wit, Meyer tells of Mary "Jacky" Faber's adventures on the British Naval ship, the Dolphin.

Why I was Interested: In January, I went to the first meeting of an audio book group at library. The next book on the schedule was Bloody Jack. While working in a high school library I had always intended on reading this book because it was so popular with girls and boys alike, but never got around to it. I enjoy books with strong female characters. Pirates are always good too, although they did not play prominent role in Bloody Jack.

Why I Finished it: The narrator, Katherin Kellgren, brought the characters to life. While it is a book I could read at a leisurely pace, I wanted to find out what happened and I can't even get specific or I will spoil some of the story! I appreciated the narrator's attention to detail with Mary "Jacky" Fabor's accent and crude street language.

I'd Share it With: Teens, especially girls who like adventure with a bit of romance. Even with the little bit of romance I think teen boys will like it as well because of the action. I think it was a great choice for discussion and would recommend it to both adult and teen book groups.

Other Books to Try: Bloody Jack is the first in a series about Mary "Jacky" Faber. I haven't read the others, but after reading the first I imagine anyone that enjoyed the first would want to pick up the second, Curse of the Blue Tatoo. If you liked the strong female character, I would suggest Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld or The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart. Leviathan's main female character also impersonates a boy to work in the British military, but on airship during a steampunk inspired World War I. Frankie Landau-Banks attends boarding school and her goal is to join the elite boys only secret society at her school. In The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, readers will get to know a girl who is almost too smart for her own good. Lockhart uses humor wonderfully to tell Frankie's story. 

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read 
• Open to a random page 
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page 
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) 
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"As she walked, she touched the trees one by one as if she were marking the path, as if her handprints left glowing traces on the bark.  She felt a little guilty because she had lied to the huntress, and she wondered if the huntress had known, for Ash had not been lost that day."

p. 135 Ash by Malinda Lo

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read 
• Open to a random page 
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page 
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) 
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

I don't know.  How can you know?  How can Ben and Cillian have expected me to be prepared for this?  Sure, the idea of a bed and hot food sounds like something worth getting shot for but maybe its a trick and we're being so stupid we serve to get caught."

p. 149 The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

In the sequel to The Ranger's Apprentice: The Ruins of Gorlan and the second book in the Ranger's Apprentice series, Will and Horace join Gilan in a mission to warn Celtica of the impending war. Things are not as they should be in Celtica and the group must split up. Gilan rides ahead to warn the King's army while Will and Horace follow with a girl who is not who she appears to be. Will, Horace and the girl encounter a group of wargals causing them to change their plans. With action at every turn Flanagan entices the reader to turn the page. This book will make the readers of this series want more. Readers will want to read The Ruins of Gorlan prior to The Burning Bridge. Readers will also want to make sure they have the third installment in The Ranger’s Apprentice series, The Icebound Land on hand after finishing The Burning Bridge.

Rating: 3.5

Readers who liked The Burning Bridge may also like Frank Beddor's Looking Glass Wars and Seeing Redd.