In the Belly of the Bloodhound

In the Belly of the Bloodhound
Author	Louis A. Meyer
Audio read by	Katherine Kellgren
Cover artist	Cliff Nielsen
Language	English
Series	Bloody Jack Adventure
Genre	Young adult, Historical novel
Publisher	Harcourt Children's Books
Publication date	October 1, 2006
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (hardback), Audiobook
Pages	528 pages
ISBN	978-0-15-205557-8
OCLC	62493095
LC Class	PZ7.M57172 In 2006
Preceded by	Under the Jolly Roger
Followed by	Mississippi Jack

Last updated July 03, 2024

In the Belly of the Bloodhound: Being an Accountant of a Particulary Peculiar Adventure in the Life of Jacky Faber is a historical novel written by L.A. Meyer. It is the fourth book in the Bloody Jack Adventure series about a teenage girl named Jacky Faber, alias Bloody Jack, set in the early 19th century. This installment follows the heroine as she returns on land from her adventures on the seas in the previous novel.

In the Belly of the Bloodhound is preceded by Bloody Jack (2002), Curse of the Blue Tattoo (2004), and Under the Jolly Roger (2005). It is followed by Mississippi Jack (2007), My Bonny Light Horseman (2008), Rapture of the Deep (2009), The Wake of the Lorelei Lee (2010), The Mark of the Golden Dragon (2011), Viva Jacquelina! (2012), Boston Jacky (2013), and Wild Rover No More (2016).

Plot

This novel follows Jacky Faber upon her return to Boston. In her small sailboat, the Morning Star, she sneaks into port past two British ships. When she is out of sight, she finds a young boy, Jim Tanner, to watch her boat for her. She goes into town to talk with her lawyer, Ezra Pickering. They decide it is best for Jacky to return to the Lawson Peabody School for Young Girls. The school is being rebuilt with bricks after a fire caused when she knocked over a lamp while fighting for her life. The next day, Ezra, Jim, and Jacky take the Morning Star to Dovecote to see Amy, who is in a deep depression. Jacky surprises her by bringing her lunch to her. She tells Amy her story and then the two of them join Ezra and Randall for lunch.

The months pass after that. When school starts again, Jacky greets her old friends. Her old enemy, Clarissa, has brought a slave back with her, and Jacky is outraged. After about a month, Higgins comes to the school and becomes head of the serving staff.

Months go by, and classes too. One day, all the girls except Amy go on a planned field trip to the shore. Jacky is surprised that Mistress Pimm does not come, and is even more surprised when she realizes that Higgins is not there either. Only Mr. Harrison, the man leading their trip, and his slave Jerome are there. When they are taken to the docks, Jacky refuses to get in the lifeboat to take them to their picnic spot without Mistress Pimm or Higgins. Mr. Harrison then points a gun at her and forces her to get in the boat.

The girls are then taken onto a ship and learn Mr Harrison is a man named Colonel Bartholomew Simon, where Clarissa angrily calls him by his more popular name, "Blackman Bart". Clarissa recognizes him as a slave dealer, who often handles transactions with her father's plantation. Blackman Bart informs the girls that they will be sold into slavery in North Africa. While the girls are hysterical, Jacky quickly shoves her seabag full of supplies down into the hold. Jacky organizes the group. She divides the girls into three groups and assigns a leader to each group. The three leaders are Jacky, Dolley, and Clarissa. They find a rat hole into a storage room, and make plans to widen it with Jacky's shiv to escape through.

There is a guard at the door to the girls' prison that the crew calls Dummy. Jacky soon finds out that he is actually Hugh the Grand, or Hughie, from the Rooster Charlie Gang on the streets of London. Jacky reveals herself as "Little Mary", now Jacky, and he recognizes her.

The next day, a man named Sin-Kay enters the hold. He had posed as Blackman Bart's slave, when they were really business partners. He organizes the girls into an alphabetical line, and is quickly introduced to the wrath of Clarissa. He quickly singles out Clarissa and Jacky as the two "troublemakers". The girls begin to listen to their leaders of their groups, Jacky, Clarissa, and Dolley. Only one girl, Elspeth Goodwin, cannot cope. She becomes hysterical and emotional, begging to be sent home.

After a week, Elspeth rats Jacky out as the leader of the girls in a last-ditch attempt to be sent home. Jacky then gets a lashing with the cat-o-nine tails for organizing a hunger strike among the girls. The hunger strike was in response to the requests of the girls (better food and cleaner conditions).

As the girls work on widening the rat hole and sneaking supplies through, Jacky bargains with two of the less aggressive sailors, Mick and Keefe. They help get the girls clean water for washing in exchange for Jacky revealing parts of herself. While one girl, Constance Howell, expresses outrage and indignation, Jacky continues to do so, in exchange for every girl getting water to wash with.

Jacky also works on spreading superstitious stories through the crew. She has the youngest girl, Rebecca, wake up screaming about seeing a ghost, to scare the extremely superstitious crew. She also tells the sailors that the Captain is planning on killing them.

Two riots are also caused during the girls captivity. Clarissa continues to harass Sin-Kay and call him offensive names. The girls run out and cause trouble when he attempts to throw Clarissa overboard. Jacky also sneaks out of the Hold as the "black ghost", and is seen by two sailors. When the sailors become terrified and create pandemonium, Jacky sneaks back in and covers for herself by kissing Clarissa in the hold, claiming that the two of them are "particular friends." Jacky notes that Clarissa resists the kiss at first, and then doesn't, and that Jacky has "been kissed by worse."

Soon, the hole is big enough to escape through. The girls create a 100-second fuse to ignite the powder magazine and aid their escape. They all make it out the hole and make their escape in one of the lifeboats, with the help of Jacky's old friend, Hugh the Grand. Shortly after their escape onto the life boat, Hugh dies from an injury he received while protecting Jacky on the ship and Jacky falls ill from a wound on her leg.

Jacky wakes up on a Royal Navy Ship, HMS Juno, which is taking the girls back to Boston. Before they get to Boston, the Juno has to make a quick stop in New York, where they meet up with Henry Hoffman, the school's stable boy and fiancé of one of the girls. That girl rides back to Boston with Henry ahead of the others.

When word of the girls' rescue and survival comes, everyone is excited and prepares for their return. When the Juno gets there, parents and loved ones, including Jaimy, are waiting. The Juno docks and the girls step off. The last three to get off are Dolley, Clarissa, and Jacky. The book ends with two marines stopping her before she can get off the ship and telling her she is under arrest for piracy.

Characters

Mary "Jacky" Faber: Series protagonist. Once an orphan, a schoolgirl, ship's boy, midshipman, privateer, and accused pirate, Jacky now returns to Boston to continue her education while hiding out from the Admiralty.
Amy Trevelyne: Jacky's best friend, who has written a book about Jacky's early life.
Clarissa Worthington Howe: Jacky's schoolmate and mortal enemy. Clarissa's inner depths are explored in more detail as she forms an unlikely alliance with Jacky to lead the girls in their escape from the Bloodhound.
Katy Deere: A serving girl at Lawson Peabody with whom Jacky once worked. During the girls' captivity, Katy reveals her traumatic past to Jacky, and decides to quit her profession and return to the west after surviving her ordeal.
Sin-Kay/Jerome: A slaver who oversees the expedition to bring the girls to Africa to be sold. The book's central antagonist, Sin-Kay is killed during the girls' daring escape, during which he is crippled and then eaten by sharks.
Captain Blodgett: Captain of the Bloodhound who whips Jacky and Clarissa to make an example when the girls attempt a hunger strike. He is also devoured by sharks when the ship sinks.
Bo'sun Chubbuck: The brutal bo'sun of the Bloodhound. Killed by Katy Deere during the escape.
James "Jaimy" Emerson Fletcher: Jacky's betrothed, who spends the novel trying to figure out what happened to Jacky.
John Higgins: Jacky's loyal steward.
Ezra Pickering: Jacky's lawyer in Boston.
Hugh the Grand: Jacky's simple-minded childhood friend who is hired onto the Bloodhound as muscle for Sin-Kay, who refers to him as "Dummy."
Dobbs: Mistress Pimm's crabby handyman. He sells out the girls to the slavers, but is killed by Chubbuck as part of the plan to make the girls' disappearance look like an accident.
Beadle and Strunk: The private detectives who previously sold Jacky to Reverend Mather. When they come poking around for her again and assault her coxswain, Jacky leads them into a trap, wherein they are killed by Jacky's friends John Thomas and Smasher McGee.

Reception

While highlighting the merits of the adventure described in the novel, Booklist 's Carolyn Phelan wrote, "The real pleasure comes from watching this cunning, unconventional, warmhearted heroine in action".^[1]

On behalf of School Library Journal , Tricia Melgaard wrote, "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". Discussing the audiobook, Melgaard praised Kellgren's ability to "juggl[e] American, French, and British accents with ease", noting that "her vivid delivery of Meyer's top-notch dialogue brings the tale to life".^[2]

Accolades

In the Belly of the Bloodhound is a Junior Library Guild book.^[3]

The audiobook narrated by Katherine Kellgren was an honor book for the 2009 Odyssey Award.^[4]^[5] The American Library Association also included it on their 2010 list of Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults.^[6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virginia Hamilton</span> American writer of childrens books (1936–2002)

Virginia Esther Hamilton was an American children's books author. She wrote 41 books, including M. C. Higgins, the Great (1974), for which she won the U.S. National Book Award in category Children's Books and the Newbery Medal in 1975. Her works were celebrated for exploring the African-American experience, what she called "Liberation Literature."

<i>Bloody Jack</i> (novel) 2002 historical novel by L.A. Meyer

Bloody Jack: Being An Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary “Jacky” Faber, Ship's Boy is a historical novel by L.A. Meyer, published by Harcourt Children's Books in September 2002. It is centered on an orphaned girl in London in the early 19th century.

Catherine Townsend Johnson was an American stage and film actress.

<i>Curse of the Blue Tattoo</i> 2004 historical novel by L.A. Meyer

Curse of the Blue Tattoo is a 2004 historical novel by L.A. Meyer, the second book in the Bloody Jack series. It continues the story of orphaned London girl, Jacky Faber, in the early 19th century. The novel is preceded by Bloody Jack (2002) and followed by Under the Jolly Roger (2005), In the Belly of the Bloodhound (2006), Mississippi Jack (2007), My Bonny Light Horseman (2008), Rapture of the Deep (2009), The Wake of the Lorelei Lee (2010), The Mark of the Golden Dragon (2011), Viva Jacquelina! (2012), Boston Jacky (2013), and Wild Rover No More (2016).

Small Town Girl is a 1936 American romantic comedy film directed by William A. Wellman and starring Janet Gaynor, Robert Taylor, and James Stewart. The supporting cast features Binnie Barnes, Andy Devine, Lewis Stone and Edgar Kennedy.

Boston Jane: An Adventure is a 2001 children's historical novel by Jennifer L. Holm. It is followed by Boston Jane: Wilderness Days and Boston Jane: The Claim. The name is a reference to the name of the main character, Jane Peck, who is called "Boston Jane" by the Chinook. Because the first Americans associated with the Chinook were from Boston, the Chinook referred to all Americans as "Boston (Name)".

Barbara Mullen was an American-born actress well known in the United Kingdom for playing the part of Janet McPherson, the housekeeper in Dr. Finlay's Casebook. Although the role of Janet brought her fame in later years, she already had made her mark in the theatre.

<i>Under the Jolly Roger</i> 2005 novel by L.A. Meyer

Under the Jolly Roger: Being an Account of the Further Nautical Adventures of Jacky Faber is a young adult historical fiction novel by L.A. Meyer and is the third book in the Bloody Jack series set in the early 19th century.

Louis A. Meyer was a Maine author. Writing under the name L.A. Meyer, he was best known for his young-adult historical series The Jacky Faber Adventures, also known as the Bloody Jack series. He also wrote two children's picture books and was a painter. He and his wife owned an art gallery called Clair de Loon in Bar Harbor.

<i>Mississippi Jack</i> 2007 novel by L. A. Meyers

Mississippi Jack: Being an Account of the Further Waterborne Adventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman, Fine Lady, and the Lily of the West is a historical novel written by L.A. Meyer, published in 2007. It is the fifth book in the Bloody Jack Adventure series about a teenage girl named Jacky Faber, alias Bloody Jack, set in the early 19th century. This installment follows Jacky when she and her schoolmates return to Boston after being on a slave ship for several months

<i>My Bonny Light Horseman</i> 2008 novel by L.A. Meyer

My Bonny Light Horseman: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky Faber, in Love and War is a historical novel written by L.A. Meyer, published in 2008. It is the sixth book in the Bloody Jack Adventure series about a teenage girl named Jacky Faber, alias Bloody Jack, set in the early 19th century.

The Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production is an annual award conferred by the American Library Association upon the publisher of "the best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United States". It is jointly administered by two ALA divisions and sponsored by Booklist magazine. It recognizes production quality in all respects, considering such things as narration, sound quality, background music and sound effects. It is named for Homer's eighth century BCE epic poem Odyssey, which was transmitted orally, to remind us modern people of the ancient roots of storytelling.

Courage Mountain is a 1990 adventure drama film and serves as a sequel to Johanna Spyri's 1881 novel Heidi. It was directed by Christopher Leitch and stars Charlie Sheen, Leslie Caron, Juliette Caton and Jan Rubeš. The film is set during the outbreak of World War I with Heidi as a teenager, despite the fact that the original novel was first published in 1881.

<i>Bloodhound</i> (novel) 2009 novel by Tamora Pierce

Bloodhound, by Tamora Pierce, is the second novel in a fictional trilogy, Provost's Dog, about a young Provost guard-woman in a fantasy kingdom called Tortall. The first book was called Terrier, and the third is called Mastiff.

Prosperity is a 1932 American pre-Code comedy-drama film starring Marie Dressler and Polly Moran. The two leading actresses play longtime matriarchal ladies comically sparring off each other, and trying to control their intertwined lives.

<i>Rapture of the Deep</i> (novel) 2009 novel by Louis A. Meyer

Rapture of the Deep: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky Faber, Soldier, Sailor, Mermaid, Spy is a historical novel by L.A. Meyer, published in 2009. It is the seventh book in the Bloody Jack book series about a teenage girl named Jacky Faber, alias Bloody Jack, set in the early 19th century. In this installment, Jacky returns from her 'history-defining' adventure as a Parisian nightclub spy and messenger for Napoleon Bonaparte.

<i>The Wake of the Lorelei Lee</i> Book by L.A. Meyer

The Wake of the Lorelei Lee: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky Faber, on Her Way to Botany Bay is a historical novel by L.A. Meyer published in 2010. It is the eighth book in the Bloody Jack Adventure series about a teenage girl named Jacky Faber, alias Bloody Jack, set in the early 19th century.

<i>The Mark of the Golden Dragon</i> 2011 novel by L.A. Meyer

The Mark of the Golden Dragon: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky Faber, Jewel of the East, Vexation of the West, and Pearl of the South China Sea is a historical fiction novel by L.A. Meyer published in 2011. It is the ninth book in the Bloody Jack Adventure series about a teenage girl named Jacky Faber, alias Bloody Jack, set in the early 19th century. It is preceded by Bloody Jack (2002), Curse of the Blue Tattoo (2004), Under the Jolly Roger (2005), In the Belly of the Bloodhound (2006), Mississippi Jack (2007), My Bonny Light Horseman (2008), Rapture of the Deep (2009), and The Wake of the Lorelei Lee (2010). It is followed by Viva Jacquelina! (2012), Boston Jacky (2013), and Wild Rover No More (2016).

<i>Little Birds</i> (film) 2011 American film

Little Birds is a 2011 American film written and directed by Elgin James, and starring Juno Temple and Kay Panabaker. The film follows two girls that leave home to follow two skateboarders to Los Angeles and is loosely based on the life of director Elgin James. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, with Millennium Entertainment acquiring the North American rights to the film.

Katherine Ingrid Kellgren or Kjellgren was an American actress, known for her narration of audiobooks.

References

↑ Phelan, Carolyn (2006-11-01). "In the Belly of the Bloodhound: Being an Accountant of a Particulary Peculiar Adventure in the Life of Jacky Faber" . Booklist . Retrieved 2024-02-07.
↑ Melgaard, Tricia (2010). In the Belly of the Bloodhound. School Library Journal. ISBN 978-0-15-205557-8. OCLC 62493095 . Retrieved 2024-02-08– via Chicago Public Library.
↑ "In the Belly of the Bloodhound: Being an Account of a Particularly Peculiar Adventure in the Life of Jacky Faber". Junior Library Guild . Archived from the original on 2024-02-08. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
↑ Bluemle, Elizabeth (2010-01-21). "2009 Children's Book Awards — A Round-Up". Shelf Talker. Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 2023-02-23. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
↑ Morales, Macey; Petersen, Jennifer (2010-01-18). "ALA announces literary award winners; Newbery, Caldecott winners on "Today Show"". American Library Association . Archived from the original on 2024-02-08. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
↑ "In the Belly of the Bloodhound: Being an Account of a Particularly Peculiar Adventure in the Life of Jacky Faber | Awards & Grants". American Library Association . 2010-02-09. Archived from the original on 2020-06-19. Retrieved 2024-02-07.

External links

The author's website

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] Phelan, Carolyn (2006-11-01). "In the Belly of the Bloodhound: Being an Accountant of a Particulary Peculiar Adventure in the Life of Jacky Faber" . Booklist . Retrieved 2024-02-07.

[2] Melgaard, Tricia (2010). In the Belly of the Bloodhound. School Library Journal. ISBN 978-0-15-205557-8. OCLC 62493095 . Retrieved 2024-02-08– via Chicago Public Library.

[3] "In the Belly of the Bloodhound: Being an Account of a Particularly Peculiar Adventure in the Life of Jacky Faber". Junior Library Guild . Archived from the original on 2024-02-08. Retrieved 2024-02-07.

[4] Bluemle, Elizabeth (2010-01-21). "2009 Children's Book Awards — A Round-Up". Shelf Talker. Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 2023-02-23. Retrieved 2024-02-07.

[5] Morales, Macey; Petersen, Jennifer (2010-01-18). "ALA announces literary award winners; Newbery, Caldecott winners on "Today Show"". American Library Association . Archived from the original on 2024-02-08. Retrieved 2024-02-07.

[6] "In the Belly of the Bloodhound: Being an Account of a Particularly Peculiar Adventure in the Life of Jacky Faber | Awards & Grants". American Library Association . 2010-02-09. Archived from the original on 2020-06-19. Retrieved 2024-02-07.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]