Arrowhead by Ruth Eastham - Revision history

Sue at 16:39, 1 September 2020

2020-09-01T16:39:07Z

Kieran at 12:42, 17 April 2018

2018-04-17T12:42:09Z

Sue at 13:05, 15 December 2014

2014-12-15T13:05:16Z

Sue at 14:28, 8 May 2014

2014-05-08T14:28:15Z

Sue at 14:26, 8 May 2014

2014-05-08T14:26:57Z

Sue: Created page with " {{infobox |title=Arrowhead |author=Ruth Eastham |reviewer=Robert James |genre=Confident Readers |rating=4 |buy=Yes |borrow=Yes |isbn=978-1407137933 |pages=224 |publisher=Scho..."

2014-05-08T14:26:43Z

Created page with " {{infobox |title=Arrowhead |author=Ruth Eastham |reviewer=Robert James |genre=Confident Readers |rating=4 |buy=Yes |borrow=Yes |isbn=978-1407137933 |pages=224 |publisher=Scho..."

New review

{{infobox
|title=Arrowhead
|author=Ruth Eastham
|reviewer=Robert James
|genre=Confident Readers
|rating=4
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|isbn=978-1407137933
|pages=224
|publisher=Scholastic
|date=May 2014
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>140713793X </amazonuk>
|amazonus=<amazonus>140713793X </amazonus>
|website=www.rutheastham.com/
|video=
|summary=Cool setting (sorry!) for this thriller inspired by Norse legends makes it stand out, as does the real sense of peril for our heroes.
}}
Thirteen-year-old Jack doesn’t believe in the local myths and legends of Norway. Until he finds the frozen body of a Norse warrior boy trapped in the ice, carrying with him an ancient arrowhead. The arrowhead bears a terrible curse, which leaves the adults struck down and nature itself turning on Jack’s town, and the rest of the world. With only his friends Skuli and Emma to help him, can Jack save the day?

This is a cool setting for a story (sorry, too difficult to resist a golden opportunity for a pun there) which makes it stand out from other adventures for this age range. I particularly liked the exploration of Norse myths and ballads, and the way the ballads tied into the plot. Even better, it’s well-paced, has a clever plot, and the stakes feel extremely high here. That’s perhaps rather obvious, as they’re trying to stop the end of the world, but it also had me believing the main characters were in more personal danger than in many other similar books – in many of these adventures it seems fairly certain that the main heroes will survive whatever happens; this never gave me the same feeling of security. (Although you’ll have to read it for yourself to see whether the feeling of dread which crept over me was justified, or not…)

That said, it’s not quite up there with my favourite in the genre as the characters aren’t quite well-rounded enough for my liking. They’re not bad, just a little bit bland. With the standard for this age range set very high by main characters like Kat Stephenson in the series started by [[A Most Improper Magick by Stephanie Burgis]], and the title characters in [[The Poison Boy by Fletcher Moss]], and [[Wild Boy by Rob Lloyd-Jones]], Jack and his friends are a touch below them.

So, not up there with my absolute favourites, but definitely worth reading – I’ll be keeping an eye out for Ruth Eastham in the future, and I’m certainly planning on tracking down her previous books, [[The Messenger Bird by Ruth Eastham|The Messenger Bird]] and her Carnegie-nominated debut [[The Memory Cage by Ruth Eastham|The Memory Cage]].

In addition to those adventures mentioned above, readers interested in legends will no doubt enjoy [[Outlaw: The Story of Robin Hood by Michael Morpurgo]]. Slightly older readers (as long as they're not easily scared!) should definitely check out the amazing [[Bone Jack by Sara Crowe]], a deeply disquieting mixture of old legends and thoroughly modern problems.

{{amazontext|amazon=140713793X}}
{{commenthead}}

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-{{infobox
+{{infobox2
 |title=Arrowhead
 |author=Ruth Eastham
@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
 |publisher=Scholastic
 |date=May 2014
-|amazonuk=<amazonuk>140713793X</amazonuk>
+|aznuk=140713793X
-|amazonus=<amazonus>140713793X</amazonus>
+|aznus=140713793X
 |website=http://www.rutheastham.com/
 |video=

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 |amazonuk=<amazonuk>140713793X</amazonuk>
 |amazonus=<amazonus>140713793X</amazonus>
-|website=www.rutheastham.com/
+|website=http://www.rutheastham.com/
 |video=
 |summary=Cool setting (sorry!) for this thriller inspired by Norse legends makes it stand out, as does the real sense of peril for our heroes.

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 So, not up there with my absolute favourites, but definitely worth reading – I’ll be keeping an eye out for Ruth Eastham in the future, and I’m certainly planning on tracking down her previous books, [[The Messenger Bird by Ruth Eastham|The Messenger Bird]] and her Carnegie-nominated debut [[The Memory Cage by Ruth Eastham|The Memory Cage]].
-In addition to those adventures mentioned above, readers interested in legends will no doubt enjoy [[Outlaw: The Story of Robin Hood by Michael Morpurgo]]. Slightly older readers (as long as they're not easily scared!) should definitely check out the amazing [[Bone Jack by Sara Crowe]], a deeply disquieting mixture of old legends and thoroughly modern problems.
+In addition to those adventures mentioned above, readers interested in legends will no doubt enjoy [[Outlaw: The Story of Robin Hood by Michael Morpurgo]]. Slightly older readers (as long as they're not easily scared!) should definitely check out the amazing [[Bone Jack by Sara Crowe]], a deeply disquieting mixture of old legends and thoroughly modern problems.  We also have a review of [[The Warrior in the Mist by Ruth Eastham]].
 {{amazontext|amazon=140713793X}}