Jackie French

3.5 stars for adult me, 4 for my inner child.

I especially appreciated all the 'inspirational' cues: "What do *you* think?" "I don't know either, but here are some possible answers others have said." "Ask your librarian for more books about it." The bibliography is weak and not very valuable, however. (But it is old, and a lot of better books for children have been published since then.)

I also am glad that the author included religious viewpoints and her own personal ideas, for example about vegetarianism. And she does offer "minister of religion" as a suggested resource.

And the companions for the child's quest are a raccoon and a crow. Fitting, as they're both intelligent scavengers.

I am *very* thankful that the author emphasizes that the search for knowledge and understanding is a never-ending quest, and hopes that her readers will become scientists and/or philosophers.

Recommended to families with children age 7-9 especially.… (more)

Another fascinating Jackie French book! This book was generally very easy to read and it kept me turning the pages. However, I dropped it down to three stars because I couldn't keep up with all the characters. I have read all the previous books in the series but not in the last year and it was impossible to remember who all the minor characters were without a bit of history. I knew I recognised their names but not enough about them to help make the story make sense and I think what was needed was a family tree in the beginning of the book. The second half of the book featured many minor characters and I was confused for most of it trying to work out who was related to whom and whether or not I was supposed to feel attached to them.
I also felt that the deaths in the book were forced. Many, many people died in the war but also many families were involved in the war and suffered no casualties. In my immediate grandmother's family many fought and no one was killed. I think the death at the end of the book was purely for dramatic effect and in a way sordid for that reason.
If not for these reasons it would have been a solid 4 stars from me.… (more)

Don't read this book until you are familiar with Macbeth, there are many sections that would be hard to follow without having read or studied the play.
This was my second of Jackie French's Shakespeare retellings and I will certainly be reading the third book as well.
I felt conflicted about my rating because while I enjoyed all the aspects of the story in regard to women and class divide and true happiness I found it difficult to sympathise with Annie. While she claims to be loyal, I found her loyalty quite shallow and self serving. If I was going to have someone looking out for me I would much prefer it to be Rab or Agnes rather than Annie.
This would have been a solid four star read for me for the clever retelling but Annie's character brings it down to 3.5 stars.
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