Hawksmaid: The Untold Story of Robin Hood and Maid Marian

by Kathryn Lasky

Overview

Before she was Maid Marian, she was Matty. . . .

Matty has been raised to dance well, embroider exquisitely, and marry nobly. But when Matty's mother is murdered before her very eyes and her father, a nobleman, is reduced to poverty, Matty's life changes.

As the daughter of Nottingham's most famous falconer, she finds a new destiny in the hawks her father keeps. She begins to understand their thoughts and even speak their language. The beautiful merlin Marigold becomes Matty's closest winged companion and her fiercest ally.

It is a treacherous time in England. The sheriff of Nottingham is rising to power, and a true king has been kidnapped. Determined to fight, Matty's friend Fynn becomes Robin Hood. As Maid Marian, Matty joins Fynn and his Merry Men, famously robbing from the rich to give to the poor.

You thought that you knew the legend, but this is the untold story. Bestselling author Kathryn Lasky soars to magnificent new heights here, giving us a bold tale of bravery and romance.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780061993404
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	05/04/2010
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
Lexile:	780L (what's this?)
File size:	512 KB
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Kathryn Lasky is a New York Times bestselling author of many children’s and young adult books, which include her Tangled in Time series; her bestselling series Guardians of Ga’Hoole, which was made into the Warner Bros. movie Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole; and her picture book Sugaring Time, awarded a Newbery Honor. She has twice won the National Jewish Book Award, for her novel The Night Journey and her picture book Marven of the Great North Woods. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with her husband. kathrynlasky.com

Editorial Reviews

Gr 5–9—After her mother is murdered and the family's castle is looted by followers of Prince John, Matty takes over the management of her father's hawks, learning their language and coming to share their consciousness. Half-orphaned and often hungry, she grows to be Maid Marian, friend and coconspirator with her childhood companion Fynn, renamed Robin Hood. In Lasky's reimagining of this legend, Marian is chief strategist of the band of boys who rob the rich, harass Prince John's evil supporters, and hope to ransom captive King Richard. There is a gentle but thoroughly modern love story, too. Matty may have been her father's jewel, but her growing affection for Robin does not turn her back into a decorative object; she is the heroine of her successful quest, leading both birds and boys. Her five hawks are distinctive, and for them, the author of the owl fantasy series "Guardians of Ga'hoole," has created a language and a convincing, if anachronistic, falconer. Lasky nicely weaves details of 12th-century life into this suspenseful adventure whose fantasy ending may surprise but will certainly please readers.—Kathleen Isaacs, Children's Literature Specialist, Pasadena, MD

School Library Journal

Veteran Lasky combines the Robin Hood/Maid Marian story with falconry. Matty and Fynn are childhood friends, playing together when Matty is not being taught by her father, Lord William, to work with hawks. She begins to understand hawk language, getting inside their minds as she trains them. When Prince John and his allies murder Matty's mother for her jewels, her father pines away. Loyal to King Richard, Matty, Fynn and a host of local lads work to keep their families fed and Prince John hassled-and then to raise the funds to ransom Richard when he is captured. Flash-forward: Matty has metamorphosed into Marian and Fynn into Robin Hood, paving the way for more derring-do. Matty/Marian's uncanny communication with her hawks takes the novel into the realm of fantasy as she slips into the mind of bird after bird to effect her own rescue, bring ransom to Eleanor of Aquitaine and declare her love for Fynn/Robin. Each chapter begins with a bit of hawk lore (not sourced). It doesn't bear up under scrutiny, but it's fun to read. (author's note) (Historical fantasy. 9-12)

Kirkus Reviews