Raider’s Ransom by Emily Diamand

Diamand, Emily Raider’s Ransom, 352 p. Chicken House (Scholastic), DECEMBER 2009. $17.99. Content: G. In Earth’s future, technology has almost completely disappeared, Scotland has taken over most of the island of Great Britain (now Greater Scotland) and the remaining English are living in tiny villages in the Last Ten Counties of England, or living as raiders in the marsh lands between Cambridge and York. Enter Lilly, a young girl who has been chosen by a seacat – even though tradition says that only men can have seacats – who returns from sea one day to find that her village has been sacked by raiders, the Prime Minister’s daughter has been kidnapped, her Grandmother is dead and the Prime Minister will kill all the men of the village unless someone can prove that the village is not full of traitors. Well, Lilly is the only one left who is capable of forming any sort of plan, so off she goes into the wilds of London, hoping to find a connection, a friend, and a way to save her best friend. I can see why this novel won the very first London Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition; it is very captivating from start to finish – the unexpected twists and turns are fascinating and even though pirate fiction may not be very popular right now, this novel could very well start a trend. EL, MS – ADVISABLE. Cindy, Library-Teacher.

FYI - this is the UK cover, as I couldn't find a picture of the American cover.