Gr 7 Up
The impudent Jacky Faber, on whose head the King of England has put a price for piracy, is back in L. A. Meyer's fourth Bloody Jack adventure (Harcourt, 2006). This time, Jacky and her classmates at the Lawson Peabody School for Young Girls are kidnapped and forced onto a slave ship, the Bloodhound . The slavers intend to sell the girls into the harems of North Africa. Of course, Jacky refuses to go quietly and soon has hatched a daring escape plan. It's wonderful to see the girls rise to the challenge and use their brains to outwit their male captors. The relationship between Jacky and her arch-nemesis Clarissa Howe is a hoot. Narrator Katherine Kellgren is perfect, juggling American, French, and British accents with ease. Her vivid delivery of Meyer's top-notch dialogue brings the tale to life. Listeners should be familiar with Jacky's previous exploits to follow the action here. All libraries serving teens will want this excellent addition to audiobook collections.-Tricia Melgaard, Centennial Middle School, Broken Arrow, OK
