Life as a ship's boy aboard HMSDolphinis a dream come true for Jacky Faber. Gone are the days of scavenging for food and fighting for survival on the streets of eighteenth-century London. Instead, Jacky is becoming a skilled and respected sailor as the crew pursues pirates on the high seas.
There's only one problem: Jacky is agirl. And she will have to use every bit of her spirit, wit, and courage to keep the crew from discovering her secret. This could be the adventure of her life--if only she doesn't get caught. . . .
While disguised as a boy, Jacky Faber experiences adventure and romance on the high seas.
* “A rattling good read.” —Publishers Weekly,starred review
* “Although many fictional heroines have sailed in disguise before Jacky Faber, her coarse, cheeky street voice and naïve but observant take on shipboard life set her apart.” —The Bulletin,starred review
“Marvelous. . . . A first-rate read.” —Kirkus Reviews
A Booklist Editors’ Choice
A Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book
A Junior Library Guild Selection
A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age
L. A. MEYERreceived a master of fine arts degree from Boston University, and is currently the curator and exhibitor at the Clair de Loon Gallery in Bar Harbor, Maine. He lives in Corea, Maine.
PART I
An Orphan, Cast Out in the Storm,
Body and Soul Most Lightly Connected,
A Tiny Spark on the Winds of Chance Borne,
To the Fancies of Fortune Subjected.
Chapter 1
Rooster Charlie allows as how today he's goin' to see Dr. Graves himself, the bloke what sends Muck around to pick up dead orphans for the di-seck-shun and for the good of science and all, to see if Charlie his ownself can get paid for his body before he goes croakers so's he can have the pleasure of it himself, like.
Me and the olƒE