From School Library Journal
Grade 4-6 This fantasy adventure is set in a long-ago time, when travelers rode on horseback through forests infested with robbers. To escape his hard life as a servant at an inn, orphaned Benjamin runs away into the forest, although he knows that the only dwelling there is the mysterious House, supposed to be haunted by ghosts or demons. Meeting a boy who has run away from the House, he learns that it is inhabited by robbers who can make themselves invisible; they keep a group of stolen boys as servants. Faced with starvation in the forest, the two sneak into the House, discover the robbers' cloaks of invisibility, and using them, manage to enlist the other boys and subdue the robbers. Benjamin persuades the boys not to become robbers themselves, but to turn the robbers over to the villagers and run the House as an inn. The first pages of the story are invitingly eerie, written in a flowing rhythm which has a folk-tale quality. This tone is not sustained once the action begins, as the language then becomes simplified and choppy as the boys struggle with the robbers, a battle which takes up half the book. There is plenty of action, but the expected mystery and suspense are lacking. Characters are not developed, and the setting is left only sketchily described. For fantasy with a folk-tale flavor for this age group, better choices are Lindgren's Ronia, the Robber's Daughter (Viking, 1983) or Singer's The Fearsome Inn (Macmillan, 1984). Ruth S. Vose, San Francisco Pub . Lib .
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--Ce texte provient d'une édition qui n'est plus publiée ou qui est non diponible.
Ingram
When Benjamin meets Mackie in the woods, he discovers Mackie is one of eight boys enslaved in a hideaway to serve robbers. Can nine young boys outwit 20 invisible robbers with guns and knives? 10 halftones.
--Ce texte provient d'une édition qui n'est plus publiée ou qui est non diponible.
