From Amazon.com
Hurray for Rowan Hood, the girls' answer to swashbuckling Robin Hood! Rowan, a.k.a. Rosemary, is forced to disappear into the woods disguised as a boy after her mother, a woodwife with healing powers, is murdered by the local lord's henchmen. Ro's only option, other than "toiling in some lord's cabbage patch," is to find her fabled father, Robin Hood of Sherwood Forest. Along the way, this outlaw-in-training is joined by a motley crew of characters: a wolf-dog that catches arrows midflight, a giant of a boy with a spellbinding musical talent, and a runaway princess. Rowan finds Robin Hood and his merry men, but she soon discovers her troubles have only just begun.
Packed with magic, valiant warriors, nasty villains, and edge-of-your-seat adventure, this story is also a poignant search for identity and family. Rowan is a fierce female protagonist with a good head on her shoulders. Girls and boys of all ages would be proud to name her as their heroine. Award-winning author Nancy Springer (I Am Mordred: A Tale from Camelot and many others) tells a riveting tale. (Ages 11 and older) --Emilie Coulter
From School Library Journal
Grade 4-7-Another entry into the popular genre of "alternate" tales, this is the story of Robin Hood's daughter by the woodwife Celandine. When her mother is immolated by the local gentry, 13-year-old Ro is left to fend for herself. She has no other family-her mother was part aelfe and ostracized by her human family-and she has never met her father. She disguises herself as a boy and makes her way to Sherwood Forest. She quickly makes an enemy of Guy of Gisborn, the local thug, and then becomes an outlaw. Ro eventually finds Robin and his men, but, fearing that he won't want a girl around, she doesn't tell him who she is. She forms her own band of comrades: her wolf-dog Tykell; Lionel, an oafish bard with a magical voice; and Etty, a runaway princess. When Robin is captured and sentenced to death, Ro and her friends rescue him and she treats his wounds. She reveals her secret and the two of them promise to be nearby when there is need. Ro is a likable character but her story is not well paced. The characters are not given ample time to develop, and story lines are not fully explored. Readers seem to be dropped in the middle of some scenes, and it takes a minute to figure out what is happening. Still, those who liked Theresa Tomlinson's The Forestwife (1995) and Child of the May (1998, both Orchard) will probably enjoy this one as well, though they will wish to know more.
Cheri Estes, Detroit Country Day Middle School, Beverly Hills, MI Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
