But, he thought, what if 'the girl, instead of seeking to be with her lover, connives to get on board a British warship in order to just eat regularly and have a place to stay, her being a starving orphan on the streets of early 1800's London. On his website, Meyer writes that Jacky's stories were inspired by old sea shanty's about young girls who dressed up as boys to follow their boyfriends to sea. Jacky just doesn't fit into the neat mold of what well-behaved girls were supposed to act like in the early 19th century-she's just got too much spunk and spirit! Her adventures are funny, suspenseful, romantic, and even will teach readers a lot about life in that era. All the while she tries so hard to be 'a good girl,' saving herself for her true love, Jamie, while being tempted by many other handsome fellows along the way. In the course of the series, she transforms from a street urchin into a ship's boy in His Majesty's Navy, becomes an infamous pirate, a student at a prim New England girl's school, a tavern entertainer, a naval officer, a riverboat captain, master of disguise, a spy in Napoleon's army, a deep sea diver, and more. It's so hard to sum up Jacky's incredibly colorful personality.

While these books are designed for young adults, they are equally entertaining for adult fans of historical fiction, as well as those who love a good adventure story with lots of bawdy humor! (but not too bawdy, this is YA after all) Book 8 of this series, The Wake of the Lorelei Lee, will be released this fall. I decided to take advantage of The Introverted Reader's weekly character connection to blog about one of my favorite characters from recent historical fiction for young readers: Jacky Faber, the heroine of L.

Bloody jack book