Wild Boy: A Tale of Rowan Hood

by Nancy Springer

Overview

Ever since the Sheriff of Nottingham killed his father, Rook has run wild in Sherwood Forest, dreaming of his day for vengeance. Finally, he has found his chance. Not with the sheriff himself, but with the evil man’s son, snared by one of the mantraps his own father planted to catch outlaws such as Rook. Filled with clashes of sword and emotion, this page-turning installment in Nancy Springer’s Tales of Rowan Hood series will leave readers eager to return to Sherwood, where outlaws are often innocent, and survival is no game.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101563489
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	11/03/2005
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	160
File size:	218 KB
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Nancy Springer has published forty novels for adults, young adults and children. In a career beginning shortly after she graduated from Gettysburg College in 1970, Springer wrote for ten years in the imaginary realms of mythological fantasy, then ventured on contemporary fantasy, magical realism, and women's fiction before turning her attention to children's literature. Her novels and stories for middle-grade and young adults range from contemporary realism, mystery/crime, and fantasy to her critically acclaimed novels based on the Arthurian mythos, I AM MORDRED: A TALE OF CAMELOT and I AM MORGAN LE FAY. Springer's children's books have won her two Edgar Allan Poe awards, a Carolyn W. Field award, various Children's Choice honors and numerous ALA Best Book listings. Her most recent series include the Tales of Rowan Hood, featuring Robin Hood’s daughter, and the Enola Holmes mysteries, starring the much younger sister of Sherlock Holmes.

Ms. Springer lives in East Berlin, Pennsylvania.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 5-8-Rook, another member of the band of Sherwood Forest outlaws from the author's "Rowan Hood" series (Philomel), faces more than one kind of demon and deals with a dark internal struggle. Orphaned when one of the Sheriff of Nottingham's man traps kills his father, the young man carries bitterness and hatred within and compares himself to the wild wolves that roam free and answer to no one, though he can't quite bring himself to separate from Rowan's band. When a man trap catches the Sheriff's son and Rook finds him, he must decide whether to leave Tod to die in revenge or to help him. His choice sets in motion a chain of events that brings Rook out of the darkness and breaks the stone wall around his heart. Tod, too, faces truths about his evil father and literally rides off into the sunrise a changed man on an adventure of self-discovery. More psychological in nature than the other books in the series, the story nonetheless offers adventure and suspense. The rich, descriptive language and the humor will engage readers as well. Though the novel is short, Springer masterfully develops Rook's character and makes him someone with whom readers will empathize. Fans of the series won't be disappointed, and newcomers should be able to follow the story line as well.-Cheri Dobbs, Detroit Country Day Middle School, Beverly Hills, MI Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

This series by Springer is for a younger audience than her Arthurian one, and is written with perhaps less grace and wit. On the other hand, it takes as its premise Sherwood Forest and the outlaws therein (Rowan Hood is Robin's grown daughter, a healer). In this fast-moving tale, young Rook, who fancies himself a wild one, a wolf, finds the Sheriff of Nottingham's son Tod in a man trap-an ugly steel vise that breaks his leg. Rook hates him on sight, as it was the Sheriff whose trap killed Rook's father. But he calls Rowan to aid the boy, and even leads the band to his father's abandoned hut, which he has not returned to since his father's death. Rook's working out of his grief and loss, Tod's relationship with his abusive father, and Rowan's gentle presence are in the foreground while the merry men and Robin serve as background, and supportive, adults. Young readers, whether or not they've devoured the first three will enjoy this one. (Historical fiction. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews