Wild Things: YA Grown-Up discussion

I am completely addicted to this series. Mary "Jacky" Faber flees the orphan/street urchin/hard knock life in the gutters of London by hopping on board one of Her Majesty's Royal Navy warships and pretending to be a boy. The author was inspired by that theme which is so often represented in Anglo-Saxon folk songs and poetry, which often ends with the lass marrying a sailor, or even the captain of the ship. Only Meyer keeps our spunky, lovable, trouble-magnet of a heroine continuously dancing just out of reach of her chosen sailor... Which makes for some excellent (if utterly-panicking-at-3-am-frustrating) cliffhangers.

I have them both on audio (well, the ones that are available) and in hardcover format. I *highly* recommend the audiobooks as the reader, Katherine Kellgren, not only does justice to these fine tales with her voice-acting skills--she sings, too! (Have to say, she also does great drunk-acting--oh those sailors and their rum.)

This is the series so far:

1. Bloody Jack

2. Curse of the Blue Tattoo

3. Under the Jolly Roger
4. In the Belly of the Bloodhound

5. [image error] Mississippi Jack (audio comes out today! I hope)

6. My Bonny Light Horseman (audio comes out in June)

and

7. Rapture of the Deep (due out in September)

8. The Wake of the Lorelei Lee (due out in 2010)

There is also a GR group, Bloody Jack Fans, of which I am now a member.

Thanks to all who recommended this book to me--my customers (sorry, I forget their names), as well as Kristen and E.M. right here on the G.R.! (woot!)

Anyone else care to gush?

Anyone tempted even a tiny bit to read this series, I say bump it up to the top of your list, ASAP!!! You won't regret it! It has the perfect mix of comedy and tragedy (ok, well, the first one is mostly tragedy, but that's her trying to escape poverty and the gallows as well as imminent rape), romance and suspense, swash-buckling and school-marming--you name it, Jacky's got it!

As soon as I get to the end of what's available, I plan on reading/listening to it all over again!

I'm just dying to read about the next adventures of Jacky! Love love love these books!

I'm on book 3, and I'm portioning them out so I don't gobble them all up before the next one comes out. I've always been a sucker for girls-disguised-as-boys historical fiction. I also have a thing for girls boarding school books, so I loved #2, and I'm fast developing a sailors/pirates fondness (loved Avi's Charlotte Doyle). So this is right up my alley.

Alethea wrote: "Katherine Kellgren, not only does justice to these fine tales with her voice-acting skills--she sings, too! (Have to say, she also does great drunk-acting--oh those sailors and their rum.)"

I think that's really all the convincing I need to listen to the audio. :)

Sharon wrote: "I've always been a sucker for girls-disguised-as-boys historical fiction."

I'm so glad I'm not the only one!

Love love love these books. I think I got Alethea to read the first one way back when and she's eating them up like nobody's business. I haven't heard the audio of any of these, but if I ever re-read them, I think I'll check it out - thanks for letting me know Alethea!

chompchompchomp nomnomnom bloody jack books...

What? Oh, hi. ^_^ Yes the audios are great, I got them from Audible for a fraction of what the normal CD price is. I am waiting impatiently for #5 & 6 to be released--the release dates on the websites lie!! (They said May 1 and June 1 and nothing so far has come out :( )

I owe you for life, Kristen!

Hehe. I'll be racing you in September to see who reads the latest Bloody Jack first. :)

I love her accents. I watch a lot of British tv and if I could move away somewhere and start over and speak with a British accent, I totally would! ^_^

Wow! Thank you for hating. ^_^ I'm glad you feel better.

I love these books so much! I got the last two for Christmas and can't wait to read them!!! I'm so glad that another adventure is on the way!

The Bloody Jack series is fabulous. I listened to the first five and I can't wait to get the rest. The woman reading the stories is fantastic. I recommend these stories to everyone. My daughter is addicted too.

For those having trouble getting them, I downloaded mine from the Los Angeles County Public Library online with Net Library or Overdrive. Both are totally free.

I honestly wish I was Jacky Faber.

Jeanette wrote: "For those having trouble getting them, I downloaded mine from the Los Angeles County Public Library online with Net Library or Overdrive. Both are totally free."

J - How do you do that? I have heard about Overdrive but wasn't sure. I'll have to check with my librarian.

Go to the home page of the LACPL and look on the right side of the page. There should be an icon for Overdrive. Click on it to go to the Overdrive home page. On the bottom left will be the software requirement. Download the software (free) to your computer. The same icon will also open up the Overdrive books available. Some I downloaded and burned to CD's to listen in my car and others can copy into ITunes so i can put them on an ipod or my Ipad. For Ne Library, you have to register at one of the LACPL sites on their computer. Then you can download the software at home and it works the same way that overdrive does. I think Overdrive has a better selection, but it's nice to have a choice :)

I love this series and I think it is best discovered by listening to the talented Katherine Kellgren. I have My Bonny Light Horsemen waiting for me at the public library. I can't wait to start listening to it - life is never dull in the adventurous life of Jacky Faber :)

through july 21 there is a free audio download of Bloody Jack, here is the link:
! http://www.audiobookcommunity.com/pag...

I am about half way through the first one. I am really enjoying it a lot, but I was really surprised by the content. I don't know where I got the idea in my head that this was closer to the children's bracket than the adult bracket on the YA spectrum, but I did. Maybe because of Jacky's age or the way she talks? I don't know. It definitely deals with some more mature situations. I love the way it is written though and it is highly addicting. You can't help but love Jacky.

I remember when I read the first one, the first few chapters were so awful that I almost put it down. Awful here meaning so sad, almost unbearable to imagine. And I soon realized that Jacky is definitely not for kids. The back I believe may say 10 and up, but I don't think I'd let a daughter under 13 read it probably.... lol

Sarah wrote: "I remember when I read the first one, the first few chapters were so awful that I almost put it down. Awful here meaning so sad, almost unbearable to imagine. And I soon realized that Jacky is defi..."

See, when I read the beginning, Sarah, I thought the book would end up being more like Annie or something. I actually described it as cute. As you get further in it gets a bit darker and I don't know if I'd be comfortable with a 10-year-old reading it. There are some really mature issues that come to surface that I think a 10-year-old would have trouble grasping. The Sloat part jumps to mind, for example.

As an adult I think it's a fun and adventurous story. I love the writing and speaking style of the characters. I think it adds some distinction to the story.

This sounds like an interesting series for my daughter to try (after the last couple of comments I'll add that she's a mature nearly 14!). Her reading's insatiable and I like to find her things a little different from the norm.

Yes, I think she'll probably like it, Annette. Jacky is a character most people would fall in love with, and also one that everyone wish they could be.

Alright, I'm re-reading this series by audio and it's fantastic! I'm so glad to be back into this series, I never got to the last two published and it's fun to hear them on audio. Highly suggest this series!

I finally have caught up to the end of this wonderful series - The Wake of the Lorelei Lee: Being an Account of the Adventures of Jacky Faber, on her Way to Botany Bay. I just loved rereading all of these in audio and cannot wait for the next book to come out - The Mark of the Golden Dragon: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky Faber, Jewel of the East, Vexation of the West, and Pearl of the South China Sea, which comes out in October! :)

I'm making my best bud read the first book this month, so I hope she loves it! :)