Longbow Girl

by Linda Davies

Overview

The stunningly written start to an exciting new trilogy about a smart, strong, bold girl who travels back in time to protect her family's past and ensure its future using her archery skills.

Set in the wilds of the Welsh mountains, the brave and beautiful longbow girl, Merry Owen, discovers a river that takes her back in time to the autocratic kingdom of King Henry VIII. While there she finds she must compete in an archery tournament to save her ancestors' land from being seized by their aristocratic neighbors the de Courcys. Merry's best friend James de Courcy (and heir to the de Courcy wealth) follows her back in time and the two get tangled up in their families' ancient histories. There are forces working against them both in the past and the present. Will they be able to survive their pasts to save their futures?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545853590
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	02/23/2016
Sold by:	Scholastic, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
Lexile:	700L (what's this?)
File size:	4 MB
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Linda Davies is the bestselling author of several financial thrillers for adults and a forthcoming book about being held hostage in Iran. Longbow Girl is her young adult debut. She lives in Suffolk, England with her husband and three children. You can visit her online at www.lindadavies.com.

Read an Excerpt

From Longbow Girl:Merry Owen saw a dark figure vault over the ancient boundary wall between their farm and the Black Castle. The old enemy, trespassing on her land again. Coming her way.She was alone but she had her longbow, a weapon of war from a thousand years ago that had won battles and saved kings, and still lethal today. In her hands, at least. Armed with this simple stave of wood, only just taller than her, primed by a decade of training, she always felt more: more powerful, alive, ready... She nocked an arrow onto her string, drew back the bow to its quivering full extension, eyed the approaching figure. Too far away to recognise, but close enough to hit. She imagined all her ancestors – the longbow men of Nanteos – lining up like ghosts behind her, willing her on.She loosed the arrow.

Editorial Reviews

11/30/2015
When Merry Owen discovers an ancient text in a burial mound on her family’s property, she finds the solution to her family’s financial dilemmas and also a riddle that leads her to 1537 and the reign of King Henry VIII. Fifteen-year-old Merry, descendent of the longbow archers of Nanteos, is the Longbow Girl, trained by her father to “protect the Crown” in exchange for Welsh land. When the de Courcys of Black Castle learn of her book and her family’s troubles, they are eager to retake the land once theirs, but Merry has other ideas—outwitting the de Courcys and a treacherous archeologist by traveling back in time to defend her family’s legacy in an archery tournament. With the help of best friend James de Courcy, Merry discovers a new, confident voice within herself despite freezing dungeons and the threat of execution. Though the middle chapters are a bit sluggish, Davies’s (Ark Storm) first novel for young adults richly attends to history, weaving Welsh legends and mysticism into a story that abounds with adventure and features an uncommon heroine. Ages 12–up. Agency: AGI Vigliano Literary. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Longbow Girl:"Davies' love of history and folklore shine through this exciting and gripping tale of a resourceful, brave, and complex girl." —Kirkus Reviews"Davies's (Ark Storm) first novel for young adults richly attends to history, weaving Welsh legends and mysticism into a story that abounds with adventure and features an uncommon heroine." —Publishers Weekly"[O]utstandingly good." —The Guardian (UK)Praise for Nest of Vipers:"Authentic, gripping, utterly fascinating." — Entertainment Weekly"Look for this one to be big." — USA Today "Fast-paced fun." — Chicago Tribune"This book is a class act." — Glamour, UK

From the Publisher

01/01/2016
Gr 7–10—Merry Owen and her family live on a farm in the shadow of Wales's Black Castle, owned by Lord de Courcy, whose son, James, is Merry's best friend (and possible romantic interest). The Owens acquired the farm in the 14th century after one of Merry's ancestors, a longbowman, saved the king's life in battle, as long as the Owen longbowman swore to protect the Crown. Generations of de Courcys have been trying to get the land back and are now close to succeeding. When Merry unearths a text that may be a lost tale of the Mabinogion, she sees a way to possibly save her family's farm. What she reads in the book, however, complicates matters and sends Merry back to the time of Henry VIII to save an ancestor in the past and her home in the present. Time travel doesn't begin until nearly halfway through the story, and it is a relief when it does. With the past and the present mingling on a number of levels, it is sometimes hard to tell them apart during the drawn-out prelude to the main action. Merry, as heir to her family's longbow tradition, and James, who wants to play soccer rather than be the lord of the manor, are well-developed characters, but most others are stereotypical, including the vindictive countess and the unethical professor. An interesting setting, both in place and time, helps somewhat to offset a fairly predictable plotline. VERDICT For fans of time travel and strong heroines.—Katherine Koenig, The Ellis School, PA

School Library Journal

2015-12-08
A high-stakes time-travel mystery/adventure set in the wild Welsh hills. Fifteen-year-old Merry Owen, primed by a decade of training that cost her an eye three years ago, is the first female heir of her family's 700-year-old pledge to protect the Crown by the skill of the longbow, a now-honorary tradition that goes back to the Battle of Crécy in 1346. Her family lives on land carved out from the estate of the Earl de Courcy. Davies, in her wonderfully suspenseful debut for teens, sets up an essential central conflict: the ongoing enmity between the Owens and the de Courcys, which Merry and James de Courcy, best friends and fellow risk-takers, must negotiate. This intricately crafted story pivots when Merry discovers a hidden burial mound and an ancient-looking book which is later verified as an extremely valuable lost tale of the Mabinogion. The book, translated in bits, refers to another land and treasures, "a warrior bold, who comes from far away," and is filled with lyrical riddles and clues that lead Merry to a stream, a waterfall, and a concealed cave, a portal back to 1537, during the rule of Henry VIII, where danger lurks at every turn, and it's up to Merry and her archery prowess to save her family's land both then and now.... Davies' love of history and folklore shine through this exciting and gripping tale of a resourceful, brave, and complex girl. (Fantasy. 12-16)

Kirkus Reviews