Curse of the Blue Tattoo: Being an Account of the Misadventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman and Fine Lady (Bloody Jack Adventures) (Paperback)

~ (Author) "It was a hard comin' I had of it, that's for sure..." (more)
Key Phrases: sailor togs, prayerful attitude, Jacky Faber, Miss Faber, Mistress Pimm (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Shiver me timbers! Bloody Jack is back and this time, she’s facing a situation far worse than a ship full of murderous pirates. Curse of the Blue Tattoo, L.A. Meyer’s sequel to the enormously popular Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship’s Boy is just as bawdy and entertaining as the original. Left in Boston by the H.M.S. Dolphin crew when they discover her true sex, Jacky Faber finds herself navigating entirely new waters. It turns out that bloodthirsty buccaneers have nothing on the young ladies at the Lawson Peabody School! As Jacky observes, "…they’re like any bunch of thirty or so cats thrown in a sack and shaken up good. They’re mean in ways that boys never even thought of being." It isn’t long before Jacky shows her true colors by being arrested for "exposing a Female Part" (her knee) while jigging in the streets and is "busted down" to serving girl instead of student. Jacky soldiers on, getting herself into scrapes that her darling beau midshipman Jaimy Fletcher couldn’t even begin to imagine, including uncovering a shady minister’s evil secret and fixing a horse race with voodoo. And where in the world is seafaring Jaimy? As her letters to him continue to go unanswered, Jacky grows more and more worried. Still, at book’s end she takes an assignment as "lady’s companion" to the captain’s wife aboard a whaler headed for London. Astute readers will notice that the whaler’s crabby captain has a peg leg and won’t be surprised if in the next Bloody Jack Adventure, Jacky ends up hunting the great white whale!

Utterly engaging and incredibly well-paced,Curse of the Blue Tattoo is the very best kind of historical fiction: the kind that won’t leave teens snoring. Meyer effortlessly maintains Jacky’s sassy voice and conflicted conscience in what is shaping up to be a great series. While many readers will groan with despair as Jacky sets off yet again at the end of the book, they will also sigh with relief that they will most likely be meeting her again! --Jennifer Hubert --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up–In this sequel to Bloody Jack (Harcourt, 2002), Meyer continues the adventures of the wild and wanton Jacky, who sailed aboard HMS Dolphinas a crewmemberuntil it was discovered that he was really a girl. Here, she must leave her true love, Jaimy, when she is put ashore in Boston for a new start at an elite girls' school. She describes her snobbish classmates and the failed attempts of the headmistress to make a lady out of her. A natural show-off, Jacky loves to play her pennywhistle and dance on the streets. When she is arrested and jailed for showing some knee, she is demoted to serving girl. She hooks up with a drunken violin player to perform in taverns to earn money to get back to England and her Jaimy. With her propensity for plunging headfirst into trouble, the irrepressible Jacky rolls quickly from one adventure to another. As the story ends, she signs onto a whaler bound for England, leaving an opening for a third volume. Meyer does an excellent job of conveying life in Boston in 1803, particularly the rights, or lack thereof, of women. Jacky's headstrong certainty that she's in control and her cocky first-person account make her a memorable heroine. The narrative is full of lecherous men, and Jacky herself is free in her ways. This fact and the sometimes-strong language make this book more appropriate for older readers. Sure to please fans of the first title, this adventure-packed historical novel also stands on its own.–Connie Tyrrell Burns, Mahoney Middle School, South Portland, ME
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Paperbacks (August 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152054596
• ISBN-13: 978-0152054595
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #64,844 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 2 in The Bloody Jack Adventures Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Bloody" Terrific, October 14, 2004

By	The Lady Washington "Alyssa" (Indiana, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Curse of the Blue Tattoo: Being an Account of the Misadventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman and Fine Lady (Bloody Jack Adventures) (Hardcover)

This is one of the best books for young adults (and up!) to come around for a long time. Though the plot is, at times, not exceptionally unique, Jacky's plucky narrative voice smooths all ruffles. At the end of "Bloody Jack," the prequel to "Curse," autor L.A. Meyer left our heroine standing on a dock in Boston, waiting to be taken to finishing school. This book picks up precisely where the last left off, and as we might expect, Jacky does not even begin to fit in with the priveleged, proper girls at Mistress Pimm's School for Fine Young Ladies. Woven into the story line is a disguised suicide that turns out to be an unsolved murder, a strained young love, and of course, heaping helpings of Jacky's charming wit and innocent naivete that we loved from the first book. (This one's even better.) The ending is a big surprise, even though in hindsight we realize we should've been expecting it - and until that point, you won't be able to put it down. Well worth the read!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Curse of the Blue Tattoo- an excellent book, November 8, 2004

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Curse of the Blue Tattoo: Being an Account of the Misadventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman and Fine Lady (Bloody Jack Adventures) (Hardcover)

Curse of the Blue Tattoo continues the adventures of Jacky Faber after she is sent from the HMS Dolphin after her true gender is disclosed. Jacky is forced to leave her love, Jaimy for a boarding school in Boston, where she is taken to become a "lady".
Jacky soon, on one of her secret trips out of school, shows her knee while dancing for a group of sailors. She is arrested and sent back to her school in disgrace. Miss Pimm, the headmistress demotes Jacky to a serving girl.
Jacky's exploits continue, including many trips to her friend Amy's farm, a murderous Reverend, and entertaining at an inn. Her numerous adventures kept me reading late at night, and although I cannot promise that it will interest you, I would highly recommend this book (after reading its prequel, Bloody Jack).

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sassy... Spunky...Salty Jacky Faber is back!, October 14, 2005

By	H. S. Wedekind "Mr. Weekend" (Pennsylvania, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I came late to the adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, having picked up BLOODY JACK just a few weeks ago, which I think is good. Good because after reading the fine first Bloody Jack novel, I discovered that there are two more novels featuring the intrepid, mischievous, and totally engaging Miss Faber. In CURSE OF THE BLUE TATTOO, Jacky finds herself trying to fit in among the young ladies at Mistress Pimm's School. Just as adventurous and full of pitfalls a place as the HMS Dolphin was...only with a meaner set of shipmates, so to speak. I can't help but comparing the misadventures of Jacky with those of Harry Flashman in George MacDonald Fraser's wonderful and humorous series. Of course, Jacky is not the cad Flashy is. Thank goodness. She's a good girl who just happens to find trouble everywhere she goes and is misunderstood by just about everyone she meets. That said, I have just begun reading UNDER THE JOLLY ROGER (Book #3 of the Bloody Jack Adventures). For those of you interested in learning more about Jacky and author L. A. Meyer, go to jackyfaber.com.