Bloody Jack

The tale of Mary, an 18th-century London street urchin who dresses as a boy, renames herself “Jacky” and goes to sea as a ship’s boy, soars to new heights in the audio format. Mary’s distinctive Cockney dialect is tailor-made for reading aloud. And with award-winning narrator Kellgren at the helm, the result is pure magic. She creates authentic character voices, switching effortlessly among Mary’s Cockney, the melodic Irish lilt of sailor Liam, the educated American voice of schoolmaster Tilden, the chillingly sinister, leering tone of Jacob Sloat and many other voices without missing a beat. Her acting is also first-rate: her tone of pride as Mary boasts of her achievements, her tenderness as she speaks of Jaimy, the boy she secretly falls in love with, and the sheer terror in her voice during scenes of violence and danger will have listeners on the edge of their seats. For tweens and teens caught up in this summer’s Pirate Fever, Bloody Jack is the perfect audiobook to make those long family car trips fly by. Ages 12-up. (May)