Bloody Jack

Bloody Jack is a book written by L.A Meyer about a girl, a street orphan, who goes off to sea to see the world. Her name is really Mary but she renames herself Jack Faber and later on in the series, calls herself Jackie. She taught herself to read when she was very small and read for a living on the streets, telling people what direction to take by the sign or reading of bits of the newspaper. This all takes place in 1804, when stealing (which is how Jackie managed to survive) is still punishable by hanging and girls have no rights what so ever. Her gang, led by Rooster Charlie who is little older than her, mugs drunks and steals from vendors while trying to avoid the law, who have no qualms about killing a child with their deadly bludgeons. But when Rooster Charlie is murdered, Jackie decides to leave the dirty streets of London for the wide, blue expanse of the sea. She passes herself off as a boy (she is around 12 or 13 but because she is small, says that she's 10 or 11) and begins her life among her Majesties Royal Navy. Along the way, she is almost caught by the other ships boys, falls in love with the boy who defends her to the 3rd mate, nearly dies from wounds after being beaten near to death by an angry officer and shoots a man point blank in a battle against pirates, which earns her the nickname "Bloody Jack" among her crew mates. But as she begins to change and fall more deeply in love she begins to wonder if she can hide forever on this small ship...and more importantly, if she wants to...