School Library Journal Review
Gr 8 Up-As Jacky and her schoolmates are returning to Boston in 1806 after escaping imprisonment aboard a slave ship, she is arrested by the British for piracy. She gets away with the help of some friends and flees to the American frontier, where she commandeers a riverboat and pilots it down the Mississippi to New Orleans. Along the way, she and her cohorts stop at towns to put on theatrical performances and church revivals and encounter Indians and outlaws. All the while Jacky tries to reunite with her true love, Jaimy Fletcher, who is wandering through the wilderness following her trail. The premise is promising and the action is swift at the beginning; however, the plot slows down significantly. Jacky is a larger-than-life character who stretches the bounds of plausibility. This 16-year-old can captain a boat and lead a crew, swim and dive expertly, sing and dance, outwit any man with her feminine wiles, deal cards, and hold enormous amounts of liquor. Most of the other characters are flat and one-dimensional. Purchase this title where the other books are popular, but point readers looking for a frontier adventure to Jennifer L. Holm's excellent "Boston Jane" series (HarperCollins).-Kristen Oravec, Stephen S. Wise Elementary School, Los Angeles, CA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
In the newest Bloody Jack adventure, set in 1806, Jacky forsakes the seas for America's rivers, hoping to find her beloved Jaimie. She swipes Mike Fink's keelboat, turns it into a showboat, and floats down the Mississippi to New Orleans, where she outwits Jean and Pierre Lafitte at the poker table. The lengthy, episodic, and sometimes raunchy story meanders along with many entertaining scenes, but it sometimes loses its focus and even the buoyant spirit that is the series' hallmark. Readers may find themselves hoping that Jacky will soon, very soon be reunited with Jaimie. For avid fans.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2007 Booklist