Overview
When everyone in his Scottish village is violently evicted from their land by the laird, Roddy Macallan knows he must find a way to fight back. As his family escapes, making their way through the Scottish Highlands bound for Glasgow, Roddy sneaks home in search of a treasure his mother once told him was hidden there. But the search becomes more than that when Roddy teams up with a Robin Hood—like rogue who roams the Highlands just ahead of the unscrupulous laird.
A powerful and resounding adventure in the best tradition of Yolen and Harris.
Editorials
Children's Literature
Despite the action-packed promises of the book’s cover, this historical novel is a slow starter with most of the adventure taking place in the final chapters. Yolen and Harris take their time to build the story and give readers enough background information about the characters and the historical period, to warrant the thievery, chases, and shootouts at the end. This fourth novel in the “Scottish Quartet” series is a nice piece of historical fiction that offers a peephole into an old culture and provides a glimpse at the brighter side of immigration in the earlier days of America, when people still believed the streets were paved with gold. Certain parts of the book could be used as jumping off points for research projects or history lessons. Others could provide a context for discussions about morals, politics, or economy. A more in-depth lesson could be structured around the culture of working-class Scots, their traditions, their beliefs, and family dynamics. Reviewer: Jamie E. WestVOYA -
Roddy Macallan lives with his family in the Scottish Highlands. They are simple people who wish only to work the land that they have been given. The current laird of their territory sees things differently. New tenants are brought onto the land in the form of sheep provided by the British. The animals' wool will fetch a hefty profit for the laird. Roddy and his family are forced off their land and driven into exile. Here begins Roddy's quest to avenge his family's honor by becoming a common rogue. Yolen and Harris do it again in this exceptional fourth and final installment of their Scottish tales series. The well-researched novel revolves around the Highland Clearances of the 1700s. Thousands of Scottish families were uprooted to make way for British squatters and their livestock. Many fled to the coast and on to America, the fate of Roddy and his family. Roddy's first-person narrative moves along at a quick and witty pace. The exchanges between Roddy and Willie Rood, the laird's hired thug, will have readers cheering for the young hero. The characters of Bonnie Josie and Alan Dunbar are wonderfully written and add a sense of hope to Roddy's almost impossible quest. It is a story of honor, the willingness to believe, and personal growth. The novel is an excellent end to a top-notch series that also includes Queen's Own Fool (Philomel, 2000/VOYA June 2000), Girl in a Cage (2002/VOYA October 2002), and Prince Across the Water (2004/VOYA October 2004). Do not miss out on this wonderful story.School Library Journal
Gr 7 Up
In the late 1700s and early 1800s, many Scottish lairds discovered that they could make money by leasing their land to English sheep farmers. As a result, thousands of poor Highlanders were removed from their homes. Roddy Macallan and his family are tenant farmers, and they have always relied on their laird to be a provider and protector. Now he is dead, and the greedy and cruel new man cares little for clan traditions and his responsibility for his people. He sends his brutal factor, Willie Rood, to burn out the villagers and take their livestock. Enraged, Roddy sneaks back to the village to find the family "Blessing" that his deceased mother always told stories about. He finds it, a valuable brooch given to an ancestor by Bonnie Prince Charlie, but Willie Rood steals it for the laird. Roddy is nearly beaten to death, but is saved by the outlaw Alan Dunbar, who then trains him as his apprentice. Enduring great peril, the men recover the brooch, escape the English Redcoats who've been sent after them, and make it to a settlement in North Carolina. The authors deftly weave historical facts into their action-packed adventure, and though the story is somewhat predictable, it is thoroughly engaging. They write in Scottish dialect and syntax, which readers should get the hang of fairly quickly. The story would make a great read-aloud for anyone who would like to tackle the accent.-Cheri Dobbs, Detroit Country Day Middle School, Beverly Hills, MI