Spring-Heeled Jack - Softcover

Pullman, Philip

Softcover

ISBN 10: 044041881X ISBN 13: 9780440418818

Publisher: Yearling, 2004

Synopsis

Spring-Heeled Jack: The name evoked awe from both criminals and upstanding citizens alike. Some thought he was the devil, but he was actually the original superhero—leaping over the buildings of Victorian England with the help of springs in the heels of his shoes.

The story begins as three young innocents escape their orphanage one dark and stormy night. As they make their way through the treacherous streets of London danger lurks, for hiding in the shadows is Mack the
Knife, the most villainous of villains. Enter
Spring-Heeled Jack, the springiest of heroes. But will Jack’s powers be enough to save
the orphans?

Originally published in paperback, Spring-Heeled Jack is back—now as a hardcover with eye-catching new jacket art.

About this title

Review

"The wisps of fog were whisked aside, and the girls looked up at the stars and saw--The devil? Well, if he wasn't the devil, then who the devil was he?" Philip Pullman can sure tell a story. Spring-Heeled Jack, originally published years ago in the U.K., is an over-the-top Victorian romp in the boisterous vein of the master storyteller's Count Karlstein and I Was a Rat. All the ingredients for an edge-of-seat page-turner are here: three hapless orphans; the brandy-swigging Mr. Killjoy and his horrible assistant, Miss Gasket, at the Alderman Cawn-Plaster Memorial Orphanage; and the greedy, murderous Mack the Knife who awaits them in the dank city of London. Of course, this is no bad-luck Lemony Snicket tale. There's a superhero named Spring-Heeled Jack to save the day! Pullman is at his tongue-in-cheek best here, telling half the happy-ending tale with a sooty, dramatic Dickensian spin, and the other half with David Mostyn's artful cartoons, undercutting the mock-heavy-handed drama at every turn. Readers will find plenty of Pullman's characteristic wit and wordplay amid the nonstop, rip-roaring adventure. Excellent! (Ages 8 to 14) --Karin Snelson

About the Author

PHILIP PULLMAN is one of the most acclaimed writers working today. He is best known for the His Dark Materials trilogy (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass), which has been named one of the top 100 novels of all time by Newsweek and one of the all-time greatest novels by Entertainment Weekly. He has also won many distinguished prizes, including the Carnegie Medal for The Golden Compass (and the reader-voted "Carnegie of Carnegies" for the best children's book of the past seventy years); the Whitbread (now Costa) Award for The Amber Spyglass; a Booker Prize long-list nomination (The Amber Spyglass); Parents' Choice Gold Awards (The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass); and the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, in honor of his body of work. In 2004, he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
 
It has recently been announced that The Book of Dust, the much anticipated new book from Mr. Pullman, also set in the world of His Dark Materials, will be published as a major work in three parts, with the first part to arrive in October 2017.  
 
Philip Pullman is the author of many other much-lauded novels. Other volumes related to His Dark Materials: Lyra’s Oxford, Once Upon a Time in the North, and The Collectors. For younger readers: I Was a Rat!; Count Karlstein; Two Crafty Criminals; Spring-Heeled Jack, and The Scarecrow and His Servant. For older readers: the Sally Lockhart quartet: The Ruby in the Smoke, The Shadow in the North, The Tiger in the Well, and The Tin Princess; The White Mercedes; and The Broken Bridge.
 
Philip Pullman lives in Oxford, England. To learn more, please visit philip-pullman.com and hisdarkmaterials.com. Or follow him on Twitter at @PhilipPullman.

Edition details

• Publisher: Yearling
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 044041881X
• ISBN 13: 9780440418818
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 112
• Illustrator: Mostyn D