Book Battle 2011: Round 2

Today we are announcing our winner for our Round 2 contestants: Bloody Jack: Being An Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship's Boy, and Stravaganza: City of Masks. If you're just tuning in, this is our second year judging for the annual Book Battle, by The Shady Glade. It's a lot of fun, and this year's theme is Best Overlooked - as in, the best overlooked books in YA literature. Here is the bracket if you want to predict (similar to March Madness - click for bigger version):

With all that in mind, here are our reviews of these books, both of which were excellent. We've set them up side  by side for an easier comparison:

Bloody Jack                                                         Stravaganza: City of Masks
by L. A. Meyer                                                    by Mary Hoffman
YA, 2002                                                              YA, 2002

Summary: Both books are adventure stories, so well matched for this round.
Bloody Jack: (from Goodreads) Life as a ship's boy aboard HMS Dolphin is a dream come true for Jacky Faber. Gone are the days of scavenging for food and fighting for survival on the streets of eighteenth-century London. Instead, Jacky is becoming a skilled and respected sailor as the crew pursues pirates on the high seas.
There's only one problem: Jacky is a girl. And she will have to use every bit of her spirit, wit, and courage to keep the crew from discovering her secret. This could be the adventure of her life--if only she doesn't get caught. . . .
Grade: A-
Stravaganza: (from Goodreads) Lucien is seriously ill but his life is transformed when an old Italian notebook gives him the power to become a stravagante, a time traveller with access to 16th century Italy. He wakes up in Bellezza (Venice) during carnival time and meets Arianna, a girl his own age who is disguised as a boy in the hope of being selected as one of the Duchessa's mandoliers. Arianna gives Lucien her boy's clothing and he is selected as a mandolier himself, becoming a friend of fellow-stravagante Rodolfo, the Duchessa's lover, and saving the Duchessa's life when she is threatened by an assassin hired by the powerful di Chimici family. For state occasions the Duchessa uses her maid Giuliana as a body-double but Guiliana commits the fatal mistake of revealing the secret to her fiance Enrico and a sequence of devastating consequences unravels. Meanwhile Lucien has met the original stravagante, the Elizabethan alchemist William Dethridge, and he begins to understand that he may be called to follow in his footsteps. 
Grade: A-

Cover: For both books I tried to get the cover I felt was best overall, since both books have had multiple publications. I think in both instances the covers are alluring, drawing you in to the plot as well as any jacket flap.
Bloody Jack: B+
Stravaganza: B+ 
                                                         
Characters                                                                     
Bloody Jack: Mary/Jack was very well developed, but the rest of the characters weren't. It seemed a little more focused on one person rather than a group of characters interactions.
Grade: B+
Stravaganza: We enjoyed the characters immensely - the children acted their ages, and everything felt very authentic. Many situations could have been stunted or difficult for the characters to interact, particularly with a topic like time travel, but it never felt that way at all.  
Grade: A-

Writing                                                                           
Bloody Jack: The writing was accurate historically, with plenty of description, but not overly so. It dealt with a few sensitive issues tactfully, and overall was easy to digest.
Grade: B+
Stravaganza: The writing was lively, engaging and well done. It handled a sometimes unbelievable situation believably, which takes some skill.
Grade: B+

Worthy of being 'overlooked'?                                         
I felt this was an important grade - after all, what we're saying is that these books should have received the same raves that major bestsellers do.
Bloody Jack: While this doesn't necessarily appeal to the popular trends, it's a fine example of accurate enjoyable historical fiction that deserves notice.
Stravaganza: I particularly hate time travel of any kind and yet I found this an entirely enjoyable read. After being talked into it by Trackgeek, I was delighted to find a book that handled such a scientifically ridiculous notion in an entirely believable and enjoyable way. Plus, the storyline and characters were handled very well, making it something you want on your shelf to reread.

Overall Grade    
Raspberry:
    Bloody Jack: B+
    Stravaganza: A-
Trackgeek:  
    Bloody Jack: B+
    Stravaganza: B+                                                    

The Winner:
It was incredibly difficult - as you can see, both books frequently got similar grades in each category. However, one was slightly better overall, and we both felt the the book that should win was...
Stravaganza: The City of Masks

Head over to The Shady Glade for more winners of Round 2 of Book Battle 2011!