From School Library Journal
Grade 5-7-It has been nearly a year since Princess Ettarde escaped from a fancy carriage to the cover of Sherwood Forest to avoid an arranged marriage. She has been happy living as Etty, one of the band of Rowan Hood, until her father and his troops arrive and place her thinly clad mother in a gilded cage to lure Etty back to her regal life. The teen dearly loves her mother, and resists the urge to flee. With her friends in the Rowan band as well as the help of Robin Hood and some of his men, she works through a clever plan to resolve this crisis. King Solon has given his daughter a good education in Greek philosophy, which she puts to use in confronting him, and applies her skills as a logician in many situations in the story. There is conflict and action from cover to cover as characters ply their varied skills to achieve goals and live life on their own terms, in a beautifully depicted forest setting. Fans of the series will enjoy this third installment; while new readers may be puzzled by references to past events, and will not fully understand the characters, they should still find the story satisfying.Laura Scott, Farmington Community Library, MICopyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Gr. 4-7. In this third installment of Springer's Tales of Rowan Hood, a series that imagines the merry men sharing Sherwood Forest with an offshoot band led by Robin Hood's daughter, the past of another of Rowan's outlaws rears its ugly head. The runaway princess Ettarde finds herself baited into a renewed battle of wills with her father, King Solon, who has placed a cage deep in the woods and locked the queen inside. Knowing he means to lure her to her mother's aid, then push her into a dreaded marriage, Etty concocts a plot that forces her father to deal with her on her own terms. Backstory is gracefully interwoven, but there's enough continuity with the previous books to satisfy old hands (Lionel still incenses Etty by calling her "dear lady"), even as Springer introduces another gender-bending subplot. The ending brings Etty back to the threshold of courtly life, but tantalizing loose ends suggest that future visits with Springer's eccentric, appealing outlaws may be imminent. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

ANNOTATION

King Solon the Red attempts to capture his runaway daughter Ettarde and force her into marriage with a rival king who has been threatening his reign.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

It has been little more than a year since Etty-once Princess Ettarde, promisedto the power-hungry Lord Basil-escaped from her father and joined Rowan Hood's band of misfit teens and outlaws-in-the-making. Etty is so happy, she cannot imagine returning to her old life. That is, until her father appears to reclaim her. King Solon is determined to bring Etty back to barter her hand for peace. He will do anything. Even use his wife, Ettarde's mother, as bait. In a cage. In Sherwood Forest. In winter. Etty will not stand for it. Neither will Rowan Hood. An intergenerational battle of wit, will power, and wisdom follows in this third tale of Rowan Hood.

Author Bio: Nancy Springer lives in East Berlin, Pennsylvania.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Nancy Springer's third volume of Tales of Rowan Hood, Outlaw Princess of Sherwood, follows the band of teenage outlaws led by the daughter of Robin Hood, as they take in a new member-a princess who has fled the prospect of a horrible arranged marriage. Now the king will do anything to get his daughter back-even put her mother in a cage in the forest, as bait. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Children's Literature - Janet Crane Barley

This is the third book in a series about Robin Hood's teenage daughter, Rowan Hood. Rowan has her own band of outcast teenagers who have sought refuge with her in Sherwood Forest. The heroine of this story is Princess Ettarde. She has run away from her family's castle to escape an enforced marriage to Lord Basil, who threatens to wage war if she doesn't marry him. In the forest she is just Etty, a courageous companion to the others in the band. Her father, who will benefit from the distasteful marriage, searches for her, but she eludes him. So he puts out some bait. He shuts Etty's mother in a cage guarded by his men in the middle of the forest. Etty, as he anticipates, puts her own freedom in danger as she comes to free her mother. Etty feels totally stymied until the song of the cuckoo bird inspires her to think of a "back door solution." But that is just the first step to solving her problems. At first she feels there is no solution. Gradually she realizes that much of the wisdom of the Greek philosophers she was taught as a child will help her bring about a wise and peaceful resolution. 2003, Philomel Books/Penguin Young Readers Group, Ages 9 to 12.

VOYA - Jennifer McIntosh

Rowan Hood and her band of teenage misfits continue their adventures in this latest installment of Springer's twisted tales of Robin Hood lore. As in the first two stories, Rowan Hood (Philomel, 2001/VOYA June 2001) and Lionclaw (2002/VOYA December 2002), the focus is on the parental relationships of the young Rowan band. Princess Ettarde disobeyed her father's orders to marry Lord Basil, instead choosing to escape to Sherwood Forest and join Rowan's outlaw group. For almost a year, thirteen-year-old Etty lives happily in the forest, comfortable with her friends until she discovers that her father has imprisoned her mother in a cage in the middle of the cold forest. He hopes to draw the princess out of hiding and force her to obey his wishes. Etty and the rest of the Rowan band use their wits to save the caged queen without giving in to the evil king, getting help from Robin and his merry men and the strange page boy Beauregard. Again the ending is really a beginning that leads to the inevitable next tale in the series. Springer writes an engaging, entertaining, and quick story. Fans of the first two books will not be disappointed. Although there is enough background information to read this one on its own, knowledge of the first two books will enhance the reading experience. VOYA CODES: 3Q 4P M J (Readable without serious defects; Broad general YA appeal; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2003, Philomel, 122p., Ages 11 to 15.

KLIATT - Paula Rohrlick

Springer's sprightly feminist take on the Robin Hood legend, featuring his daughter Rowan as the leader of a band of her own, continues in this sequel to Rowan Hood and Lionclaw. Here the protagonist is Princess Ettarde, who ran away to the forest to avoid an unwanted arranged marriage. Her furious father, King Solon, has now come after her, demanding that she marry a rival king so that he will cease attacking Solon's kingdom. Solon cages her mother as bait, knowing that Ettarde will not be able to resist rescuing her, but the plan backfires when Ettarde frees her with the assistance of the outlaw band and instead captures Solon. An unexpected ally comes to her aid; a beautiful and sassy Gypsy girl, disguised as a male page named Beauregard, who ends up joining the band. Lots of action and a swiftly moving plot, as well as comic relief in the form of Beauregard, make this a satisfying read, and Ettarde's solution to the quandary of how to prevent war in her father's kingdom is clever and admirable. A fine addition to this enjoyable series. (A Tale of Rowan Hood). KLIATT Codes: J; Recommended for junior high school students. 2003, Penguin Putnam, Philomel, 160p.,

School Library Journal