By Colorado Kids Advisory Board member Lauren Gross

Title: Girl in a Cage
Author: Jane Yolen and Robert J. Harris
Publisher: Philomel Books
Number of pages: 234

When most kids think of the Middle Ages, they think of knights saving princesses, slaying dragons, and everything ending happily ever after. Unfortunately, this is far from true. The Medieval Times were full of war, prejudice, and pain. The book, Girl in a Cage by Jane Yolen and Robert J. Harris, is about a girl name Marjorie Bruce who is about eleven or twelve years old. Her father, Robert, was recently crowned king of Scotland, and King Edward of England is furious. He believes he is the king of Scotland as well as England. King Edward has sent troops to kill as many Scots as they can. He also permits any Englishman to kill Scottish men as well as women and children. Even though her father tries to keep her safe, Marjorie is captured and put in a cage. English people come every day to mock and throw things at her. At first, Marjorie cries when she is insulted, unable to understand why everyone hates her just because her father is King Robert. She learns a better way to face the taunts: silence. Marjorie soon begins to weaken from lack of food and exercise. Will she die as a prisoner in a strange country or will she one-day return to Scotland?

This was a great book, but it had some difficult language. The characters used strange words, and it took a while to understand what they meant. The book was also written in a very strange style. Instead of the events being told in chronological order, the authors alternate between chapters about what happens during Marjorie's captivity and the events leading up to it. The chapters about her time in the cage are written in present tense, which is very unusual. Instead of saying, "I spoke", Yolen and Harris would write, " I speak". This feature was both good and bad; it added a lot to the story, but sometimes made it difficult to read.

I would recommend this book to older kids for many reasons. One, it was really sad because most of the characters died. Two, parts were a bit gruesome, such as the passages describing the battles. And three, older kids would get the most out of it. If you like this book, I would recommend Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, Queen's Own Fool by Jane Yolen and Robert J. Harris, and books by Jane Yolen. (December, 2002)