Longbow Girl

Gr 7–10—Merry Owen and her family live on a farm in the shadow of Wales's Black Castle, owned by Lord de Courcy, whose son, James, is Merry's best friend (and possible romantic interest). The Owens acquired the farm in the 14th century after one of Merry's ancestors, a longbowman, saved the king's life in battle, as long as the Owen longbowman swore to protect the Crown. Generations of de Courcys have been trying to get the land back and are now close to succeeding. When Merry unearths a text that may be a lost tale of the Mabinogion, she sees a way to possibly save her family's farm. What she reads in the book, however, complicates matters and sends Merry back to the time of Henry VIII to save an ancestor in the past and her home in the present. Time travel doesn't begin until nearly halfway through the story, and it is a relief when it does. With the past and the present mingling on a number of levels, it is sometimes hard to tell them apart during the drawn-out prelude to the main action. Merry, as heir to her family's longbow tradition, and James, who wants to play soccer rather than be the lord of the manor, are well-developed characters, but most others are stereotypical, including the vindictive countess and the unethical professor. An interesting setting, both in place and time, helps somewhat to offset a fairly predictable plotline.