The Bronze Bow
by Elizabeth George Speare
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Book Reviews of The Bronze Bow
Book Review: The Unbendable Bow KCS
Summary: 5 Stars
Imagine a time when Romans ruled over you. They treated the villagers poorly and even killed your parents. What would you do? This happens to a young Jewish boy named Daniel who seeks revenge against the Romans.
Daniel lives in Jerusalem and moved from his hometown to the mountains to follow a bandit group with a leader named Rosh. Daniel has lived like a barbarian for 5 years isolated from the village. This all changed when Daniel met a wanderer name Joel and his sister, Thacia. Slowly, Daniel gave up his hate for the Romans and became even greater than Rosh. He did things he never dared to do like live in his hometown, take care of his devil-possessed sister, form a small band of bandits, and even left Rosh for a different leader, Jesus.
Both Rosh and Jesus want to bring freedom unto the people but their philosophies are very different. Rosh wants to fight with his hands while Jesus fights with love.
Elizabeth Speare did extensive research on how Jerusalem was like back then and even gave us a few verses from the Bible. This brilliant novel was written in a Christian perspective but can be enjoyed by all. In this story, there are so many characters expressed in detail, even though the book is short. She combines the character's background with the story exquisitely! This Newberry Medal book is a great novel to read but it does have some advanced vocabulary in it. We highly recommend it.
Book Review: Review by a 13 year old
Summary: 5 Stars
The Bronze Bow is a wonderful book for all ages. Speare adds the perfect combination of hurt, love, faith and courage to this historical novel. Daniel, the main character, finds himself living with a band of outlaws and looking up to the band's leader, Rosh, to give him the signal to finally give Daniel the Roman blood he so dearly desires. But when he meets a boy named Joel and his sister Malthace, Daniel finds himself falling in love with her.
Torn on whether to stay with Rosh or his sister and a strange young carpenter named Jesus, Daniel jumps into a situation from which he cannot easily escape. Rosh may give Daniel the spilled blood of a Roman, but Daniel has his emotionally unstable sister, Leah, to take care of. He cannot get enough of this man named Jesus, who speaks of love and peace. Hah! Daniel, a Jew, love the filthy Romans! Yet, there is something about Jesus and his works and deeds that keep Daniel intrigued and coming back for more.
Speare paints a picture so clear, that you can almost see and hear the scene being acted out before your eyes. Betrayal, war, spite, vengeance. That's what keeps Daniel's world going. Love, peace, charity, good will. Those are the works of Jesus. Will Daniel stay a cold-hearted young man, or will he submit to the will of God? That is the question.
"Two thumbs way up."
"A beautiful story in the time of Jesus."
Book Review: a young adult novel for all ages
Summary: 5 Stars
I teach Junior High School English and am constantly on the lookout for good YA novels. The Bronze Bow is everything a YA novel should be, and MORE! Daniel is a confused young man entering into manhood in the troubling times of the Roman Empire. He has been taught to hate Romans and to fight them whenever he can. When a friend invites him to hear a young preacher that people are beginning to follow, Daniel is troubled and confused by the message of love your enemy that Jesus preaches. Daniel also is burdened with a frail, dying grandmother and sister who is "possessed by demons." As the man of the family, he knows that he must leave his carefree life in the wilderness and return hom to care for them. When Daniel meets Joel and Thacia, his life begins to change as his friendship with them grows. The Bronze Bow makes the reader feel that he is a part of those times as it broadens the historical picture of the period. The book presents a wider view of Biblical times and the Jewish people and customs. Daniel's interaction with Joel and Thacia, his ill sister, the Roman soldiers, and even with the new preacher, Jesus, causes him to grow in ways that a young Jewish man of those times might actually have changed. The Bronze Bow is great reading not only for students, but also for anyone who is interested in a broader perspective of this period in history.Book Review: Thought provoking, excellent historical perspective
Summary: 5 Stars
I am an adult godfather always looking for good books for my young friends. This is one of my three best finds in years. (The others were The Witch of Blackbird Pond, also by Elizabeth Speare, and A Line In The Sand, the Alamo diary in the Dear America series.)The story is told in the time of Jesus in a village near where Jesus teaches those who come to hear him. Daniel, a young outcast, is sworn to fight the Romans with the goal of throwing them out of the land altogether. There are many other young men who want to do the same thing, but they need a leader. What they do, how they prepare, their speculation whether the new teacher Jesus may be that leader, and most of all, Daniel's struggles between his oath and what Jesus has said to him, are the story.
This is not a religious book, though its end point is the second great commandment Jesus gave (Matthew 22:39). It is a book about life in the time, the unrest and resistance of many Jews to Roman rule, the confusion of many Jews looking for a military messiah trying to decide if Jesus could be that man. But more than that, it is like any other moral tale of any other time, a story of a man trying to decide what is the right thing for him to do.
It is not simplistic, I'm 57 and I read it entirely, but neither is it difficult reading. I strongly recommend it for anyone from 9 years on.
Book Review: The Bronze Bow
Summary: 5 Stars
I read a book called The Bronze Bow. It was a really good book. It is set when the Romans were ruling Isreal. It is about a boy named Danial. His parents were killed by the Romans. He ran away from home and found a person who is trying to build up and army to drive the Romans out of Isreal. Danial joins that group and lives up in the mountains with that group until one of his friends from school comes up on the mountain. He leaves to go to his grandmother and sister's house. He sees all of his friends (including Joel who went up on the montain at first) and sees his grandwother and sister. They have very little money and are in very bad shape. After a while he goes back into the mountain because he does not want to live in his grandmothers old bad house. After a while he gets a note saying that his grandmother is dying so he goes back to see his grandmother. He stays there for a bit and then his grandmother dies. His friend leaves and bestows his house and his job to Danial. Then Joel moves but not very far away. Danial and Joel start up a little army of kids to help Rosh. Then Danial and Joel see Jesus. Joel gets captured and Danial goes to Rosh for help but Rosh won't help because he doesn't think Joel is important.