Cornwell, Betsy Forest Queen, 304 pages. Clarion (Houghton), AUG 2018. $18.
Language: G; Mature Content: PG (implied rape); Violence: PG (some
fighting).
Silvie has lives in the Loughsley mansion with her father
and her older brother John all of her life, but her best friend is Bird, the
son of the huntmistress and the pair run wild through the woods as often as
they can. Now that Silvie is older and
her brother is taking over running everything, she is afraid of her brother and
she and Bird decide it is time to run.
On their way they find a village girl hanging from the bridge and they
take her with them. Little by little
other refugees find their way into the woods to join them, and soon they have a
group large enough to attract the ire of the king – and big enough for John to
find and attack.
Cornwell written a lovely twist on the Robin Hood
legend. The familiar characters are
different in interesting ways, without losing the appeal and thread of the
original. Silvie is not Maid Marian, nor
is she Robin Hood, but her character is still well-worth reading about. You might be able to hand this to students
who like John Flanagan; I wish a wider array of knight-based books were still
popular, though. This is only advisable because of popularity; quality-wise, this is essential.
MS, HS – ADVISABLE.
Cindy, Library Teacher
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