Lasky nicely weaves details of 12th-century life into this suspenseful adventure whose fantasy ending may surprise but will certainly please readers. 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. 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. There is a gentle but thoroughly modern love story, too. 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. Half-orphaned and often hungry, she grows to be Maid Marian, friend and coconspirator with her childhood companion Fynn, renamed Robin Hood. This is my sixth book read for #TheUnreadShelfProject2020.Grade 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. If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG for violence, danger, and scenes of peril, as well as unexplained magicalness. The characters were good, and the storyline was good. As a writer, it struck me as lazy writing. Instead, it feels like the author couldn't figure out how to make the ending work, so she resorted to adding in some magic. I would have loved it if it had stayed totally realistic, or if it had been magical realism from the start. The rest of the story was so grounded in reality that the injection of magical realism here and there felt weird and off-putting. The one thing I didn't like in this was the sort of mystical, magical turn the story veered off into toward the end, with Marian joining consciousness with her birds somehow.

The only other fiction book I can remember that touches on this subject is My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George, which I loved as a kid. Plus, she learns all about falconry, which means readers learn a lot about it too. I'm bossy myself, so I kinda liked that in her. I liked the characterizations in this, for Robin himself felt light-hearted, yet could be serious-minded, which is exactly what I want in a Robin Hood. I found that nifty, as most Robin Hood retellings don't span such a lot of years, especially not ones aimed at kids. She and Robin Hood grow up together, and the story follows them from preteens to young adulthood. Hawksmaid is a retelling of the Robin Hood legend that focuses on Marian and imagines her as a nobleman's daughter with a love for falconry.

Hawksmaid by Kathryn Lasky