Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship's Boy by L.A. Meyer

Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship's Boy by L.A. Meyer -- 304 pages

After her family died of illness, Mary Faber survived in a kid's gang until Charlie, the gang leader was killed. It was then that she donned not only Charlie's clothes, but a new name, Jack.

With a new identity, Jack makes her way onto the HMS Dolphin as a ship's boy. It's anyone's game to see how long she can keep up the deception before her true identity is found out.

I think this is supposed to be a children's book....but I wouldn't give it to children, given the narration of an attempted rape and talk of the young boys (and one girl) trying to figure out how babies are made. I listened to the audiobook, and the narration was excellent. The story would have been great if you removed a few scenes, but those few scenes did their job of spoiling the book for any young reader recommendations. Sad, because the rest of the story is prime.