We felt the age level would be most appropriate for readers: age 7th grade and up due to some of the graphic scenes. We noted that the book was actually accurate for its age recommendation.
We used the Reader Chat Page from Harcourt, 2004 paperback edition, but did not necessarily follow the order of the questions. Following are the discussion answers from our group. The number in front references the chat page number with some paraphrasing of the question to help understand our answers. Where there are no numbers, the discussion points came from other avenues of discussion:
5. How did living on the streets prepare Jacky for life at sea? She wasn’t modest or easily affronted by men’s body or behavior. She already knew how to curse like a sailor. Life was so tough on the streets that the work on the ship, although hard, was easier for her to pick up and handle.
1. Why does Jacky sign on to the ship and her allure to the sea? She wants to see more of the world, not just sing about far away places. More so she wants to get away from the streets. Being on the ship meant getting meals every day, her own clothes, and shelter plus she didn’t have to deal with Muck or end up being one of his corpses he delivered for the doctors .
2. Why does Jacky worry about giving away her Deception by singing and dancing? Could she? At first there probably wasn’t so much to worry about, but as she hits puberty drawing attention to herself could attract the interest of others, not just Sloat. Some do notice the differences such as Jamie starting to treat her different because he’s worried about his attraction to her (as a boy).
-- We enjoyed the words and lessons of the teacher – how aptly they seemed to apply. He seemed very deft about the habits at sea and/or acutely aware that there was some issues on board around Jacky and the seamen.
3. Why did Jacky feel that Jenkins needed to fight Bliffil but not necessarily win? She had dealt with bullies on the streets. In her experience, bullies often backed down when they were called out. Bullies often leave someone alone if they aren’t an easy target. Also, perhaps she worried about Jenkins getting put off and she felt a kin to because she too feared that.
4. Being a coward? Is she really? She’s scared but she doesn’t back down and she does what she needs to do. Being a coward is hiding when you need to do something. People are often scared while doing what they need to do, but accomplishing what you need to do in the face of being scared is not cowardly.
-- What about the kite scene? When the tree uproots and she ends up on a paradise island eating coconut and drinking milk it seemed a little bit too over the top. Did our author watch a little too much Gilligan’s Island as a youngster? This seemed like a completely different story about a castaway, not her adventures at sea. We felt it wasn’t necessary. Almost seemed like the author needed to give her an adventure before being booted off the ship and sent to proper school. It seemed like a pretty contrived way to have the crew to find out that she’s really a girl.
-- Street smarts vs. incredulity and naïve. She’s a fun, complex character – the “smart one in the relationship” but not knowing everything.
-- Both boys and girls would enjoy this book. One member’s personal experience with reference questions in her media center is that boys tend to ask more advisory questions than girls. Girls seem to find books more on their own and know what they’ll like right away.
-- You cold book talk this with a “girl” slant or a “boy” slant depending on your approach or theme.
-- The end is so set up for sequel, but almost too sharp… could there have been a bit cleaner ending ? Not necessarily neat and all wrapped up but not so abrupt. There could have actually been a place earlier to end the story so that the interest in what happens to her is there, but not demanding that you read the next book to find out.
Next Month: Our group celebrates 3 years of book club with an outing and book talks. Each member will have a book (YA or not) that they will give a short book talk about. Look for an anotated bibliography of the book talk later this month.
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