Spring-Heeled Jack

Rating:
Summary: child heroes embark on an adventure spiced with mystery
Review: If ever a book was created for a child with ADD, this is it. In a mix of narrative and comic book panels, 3 orphans escape from an orphanage intending to purchase tickets to America. When young Ned is kidnapped, a legendary British superhero comes to their aid: Springheeled Jack, a trickster type.
Quotes from famous authors, like Hugo and Dickens, preface each chapter, with a variation of the quote becoming the opening line. This device takes an amusing turn when Pullman quotes himself, and the first line of the book. Footnotes abound, and a silly pseudo-French menu lends humor.
The nineteenth century melodramatic tones and orphan adventure will bring Lemon Snicket to mind; perhaps the popularity of the Baudelaire twins adventures is the reason for the reissue. Whatever the reason, Pullman delivers his trademark combination of child heroes embarking on an adventure spiced with a bit of mystery. This fun fast-paced romp is a great intro to the graphic novel format for younger readers.

Rating:
Summary: child heroes embark on an adventure spiced with mystery
Review: If ever a book was created for a child with ADD, this is it. In a mix of narrative and comic book panels, 3 orphans escape from an orphanage intending to purchase tickets to America. When young Ned is kidnapped, a legendary British superhero comes to their aid: Springheeled Jack, a trickster type.
Quotes from famous authors, like Hugo and Dickens, preface each chapter, with a variation of the quote becoming the opening line. This device takes an amusing turn when Pullman quotes himself, and the first line of the book. Footnotes abound, and a silly pseudo-French menu lends humor.
The nineteenth century melodramatic tones and orphan adventure will bring Lemon Snicket to mind; perhaps the popularity of the Baudelaire twins adventures is the reason for the reissue. Whatever the reason, Pullman delivers his trademark combination of child heroes embarking on an adventure spiced with a bit of mystery. This fun fast-paced romp is a great intro to the graphic novel format for younger readers.

Rating:
Summary: I absolutley LOVED IT!
Review: IT was wonderful i read it many times it was very easy but lovable. I even read it to my kids.

Rating:
Summary: Doesn't "Spring" high enough
Review: It's a Dickensian Batman, a Victorian Superman. Up on the roof: It's a bird! It's a cat! It's Spring-Heeled Jack, the devil-costumed defender of truth and justice. Unfortunately, while Jack has some intriguing possibilities, they're never used enough in this lackluster little novel.

Rose, Lily and Ned have escaped from the rotten orphanage (their mom is dead and their father is missing), with plans to sell a valuable locket and travel to America. But they are attacked by Mack the Knife, "the most evil villain in London," who kidnaps Ned. Lily and Rose are rescued by a mysterious figure who resembles the devil. But it's not a devil, it's Spring-Heeled Jack, who perkily informs them, "I'm good. I catch villains. I avenge wrongs. I do all kinds of stuff." (But does he slice, dice, and freshen your breath while you sleep?)

Jack takes Lily and Rose to his friend Polly, unaware that the sinister boss and amoral old maid from the orphanage are after the three children, intending to steal the locket as well. Will Spring-Heeled Jack rescue the incredibly outspoken Ned from a gang of thugs? Will he rescue the girls from Mr. Killjoy and Miss Gimlet?

One of the problems with "Spring-Heeled Jack" is the narrative. It's split between comic-strip-style cartoons and regular text -- and unfortunately neither the text or the cartoons can stand alone in telling the story. This jarring transition might be exciting for very young children, especially if a parent is reading the story out loud, but older kids will probably find it jarring. And unfortunately while corny dialogue can be stomached in the cartoon format, the regular narrative just makes it sound trite.

This cutesy arrangement also harms the characters, as every one of them is essentially a stereotype except Spring-Heeled Jack himself. There are the kindly young lovers, the evil orphanage owners, the unusually patient murdering robbers, the loyal pooch and the plucky preteens. With the exception of a very witty cartoon kitchen cat, Jack himself is the only interesting character in the bunch. He's also the most underexposed, since he is present perhaps a fourth of the time that the bland Polly is.

Fans of Philip Pullman's charming "I Was A Rat!" and "Firework-Maker's Daughter" will be disappointed in this calculatedly cutesy tale. One to pass by.

Rating:
Summary: A blend of graphic novel elements with paragraphs of text
Review: Spring-Heeled Jack is a British superhero who was legendary long before today's popular comics: here his adventures and mishaps come alive with stories by Pullman and comic-strip illustrations by David Mostyn. The blend of graphic novel elements with paragraphs of text will encourage elementary-level readers in grades 4-6.

Rating:
Summary: All's well that ends well.
Review: The book was interesting only because of the interesting way that Pullman combines cartoon strips and story plot into one work. The plot wasnt all that great. The story is about three orphans who escape from an orphanage, and get kidnapped by an evildoer in london. Spring heeled jack is the hero, except he is also grotesque according to pullman's description of him as a "devil" and ppl fear him. It does have a typical happy ending though. I recommend pullman's other novels if you are looking for a good plot and interesting characters! :)

Rating:
Summary: *sigh*
Review: This is not the Spring-Heeled Jack that jumped really high and spat blue flames in England. Not the evil Spring-Heeled Jack that all of us paranormalists love. They just totally changed Jack's personality! How frustrating!