Rowan Hood: Outlaw Girl of Sherwood Forest (Rowan Hood (Paperback))

When she finds her mother dead, 13-yr-old Rowan sets off to find her father, Robin Hood. Helped by her mother's elfin magic, a playful wolf-dog and a giant boy who makes magical music, she finds her father. More adventures await, as Robin is captured and Rowan's motley group joins Robin's band to rescue him.Don't expect a deep or adult-level tale. This is a short, fun book for girls in grades 3-8, especially those who like outdoor, rough-and-tumble adventure stories.This is the first book of the series.

This book is one of the classics or, at least, it should be. a wonderfully whimsical tale that continues the legacy of Sherwood that we've all become familiar with. A fantastic series, aimed at young teens, that weaves a powerful and relatable tale of growing up and coming into your own, despite considerable hardship.I'd recommend this to anyone who has a teen interested in fantasy/medieval stories as well as any adults who don't mind reading books aimed at a younger crowd - Nancy Springer has woven a tale that will make sure you don't regret giving this series a chance.

I read this to my 7 year old son and he loved it.We are delighted that his is the first book in a series.A nice blend of adventure, communion with nature,a little fantasy and a little mix of historical novels (Robin Hood).Good clean fun book!

Seeing Rosemary turning into Rowan through the death of your mother and knowing that her father is Robin Hood. I great way the author Nancy Springer adds on to the story of Robin Hood which I enjoyed a lot.

My daughter is currently ready and telling me about what is going on and I am waiting for her to get done readying so I can too

Rowan Hood is a unique addition to the Robin Hood world. Nancy Springer put a lot of thought into how a girl would gather and lead a band of outlaws differently than a guy. There is a sweet focus on relationships. The book is clearly well researched and includes references to other common characters and tales from the time of Robin Hood. The descriptions are particularly lively and lovely in the story. It was a fun world to imagine and concept to play with. Overall it was a pretty quick and creative read.

What a strange feeling to read a book and feel like it was written with me in mind. I picked this one up on a whim. I love stories with mediaeval settings, have a soft spot for tales of Robin Hood, and the title character shares my name -- my chosen name. To be honest, I wasn't expecting much. I had never heard of the book or its author, and thought it might be nothing more than mildly diverting children's lit.In the first chapter, the book surprised me, and I revised my estimates, both of my expectations, and of the target audience. This is not a book for ages 9-12, but more like 12-15. I was a little worried when there was magic so quickly in the story. I like fantasy, but I'm wary of seeing it mixed with historical settings and non-magical legends. But in the end, I felt like this book had just the right amount of magic and flavour of paganism about it.And then -- then 13-year-old Rosemary rejects her femininity, declaring outright that she does not want to be a girl or anything that comes with it, dresses herself in boy's clothes, adopts the name Rowan -- and I was lost. I know some people would consider Rowan a Marysue, with her magic half-elfin mother, Robin Hood as her secret father, elf-gifted bow and arrows, and special half-wolf dog, but I don't care; she is everything I want from a young protagonist: tough, brave, kind, competent -- and nonbinary. Yes, I know that the author is probably just making comment, via the character, that being young and female in the mediaeval period sucked, but I choose to read the character as nonbinary, and there is nothing in the text to contradict this reading. Sometimes Rowan wishes to be more feminine, and sometimes more masculine, and neither choice is framed as a bad thing.Rowan is befriended by three other characters who don't fit into the world they inhabit: a half-wolf pup she names Tykell, a large, sensitive, somewhat feminine minstrel boy named Lionell, and a runaway princess named Ettarde, who scorns her father's plans to marry her off, as well as the idea that a woman's only value is in her appearance and her chastity. Together, they rescue Robin Hood from the Sheriff of Nottingham, and Rowan must decide whether or not to tell him he's her father, and that she's not the outlaw boy he thinks she is.The story was engaging, and in places, surprising. The characters were likable and realistic (the villains were a little flat, but oh well). The ending was satisfying and unexpected. I read the whole thing in one sitting. I want to believe that Rowan grew up gender non-conforming, into a great healer and fighter, and that she and Etty fell in love, and lived happily ever after. ... And I just checked and apparently there are 5 books in this series, as well as many other books by this author. I may need do some more reading!

I bought it because my name is Rowan and Robin Hood is one of my favourite stories so I thought it could be a cute little book. It’s a great purse book. It’s nice and small and not too heavy. It’s a good book to read while your waiting rooms or on the bus.The only thing I don’t like is the word formatting the words are very close together and hard to read but a lot of books are like that.

A great addition to my library.