The Bronze Bow

By: Elizabeth George Speare

Libby audiobook 8 hours

Read by: Pat Young

Published: 1962 (this version 2019)

Genre: YA historical fiction

It's kind of amazing that I was a middle school media specialist for twenty years and saw this title on Newbery award winner posters for many, many years and had never read it. To be frank, I wasn't sure what it was about.

It's a story of young boy named Daniel bar Jamin who is fueled by a desire to avenge his father's crucifixion death by fighting the Roman legions who are in Israel. He hears a carpenter named Jesus and starts to wonder who will lead the Jews out of Roman control. He has long been a devotee of Rosh, who lives in the mountains and has a "steal from the rich to fund our fight on the behalf of the poor."

I just went on Wikipedia to read a bit more about the book (and see how to spell some names!). Interesting. This book won the Newbery in 1961 before I was even born . . . and Speare won a Newbery for The Witch of Blackbird Pond in 1959 (I've not read that one yet.) She also had a Newbery honor in 1984 with The Sign of the Beaver. Cool!

Joel bar Hezron and his twin sister Malthace (This sounded like "Yoe-el" and . . . I couldn't tell what her name was by listening!) There were lots of characters and lots of Scripture references. Daniel holds on to a lot of anger and a strong desire to avenge his parents' deaths. His sister Leah is an interesting character, frightened of strangers yet she befriends Marcus, a Roman soldier.