From Amazon.com
Robin Hood's sidekick Little John has always been one of the most intriguing characters in the legend--a big, goodhearted fellow whose nickname was Robin's joke after John earned a place in the outlaw band with that famous quarterstaff duel on the bridge. In this book Michael Cadnum returns to Sherwood Forest, the setting of his award-winning
In a Dark Wood, to imagine how Little John comes to be on the run from the cruel Red Roger, and how he gains the respect of Robin's men with his doughty courage and his way with a story round the campfire. Cadnum realistically and authentically tells the tale of Margaret Lea, a wealthy merchant's daughter who is betrothed to the despicable Sir Gilbert. She struggles to do her duty by marrying him, and on her wedding night finds her new husband stabbed to death on the doorstep. When the sheriff's man, Hugh, accuses her of the murder, she flees to the forest, where Little John and the outlaw band take up her cause in a rousing and suitably violent adventure with just a tinge of romance. (Ages 12 and older)
--Patty Campbell
From Publishers Weekly
After focusing on the Sheriff of Nottingham in In a Dark Wood, Michael Cadnum turns his attention to a future merry man in Forbidden Forest: The Story of Little John and the Robin Hood Legend and sheds light on the events that led Little John to join the infamous band of thieves.
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