The Bronze Bow (alkuperäinen julkaisuvuosi 1961; vuoden 1997 painos)

"I fem år hade Daniel levat bland de fredlösa i bergens grottor. I fem år hade han hållit sin frihetsdröm och sitt hat levande. Han drömde om den dag då den siste romaren skulle vara fördriven från hans land. Israel led under det romerska oket, romerska legionärer hade dräpt hans far och drivit också hans mor i döden.
Men efter fem år kommer Daniel tillbaka till sitt hem och sin stad, och där möter han för första gången timmermannen från Nazaret.
Denne man är en kämpe, han är en av oss, tänker Daniel. Varför skulle han annars säga att riket är nära?
Men det rike som som timmermannen talade om var ett annat än det som Daniel såg i sina drömmar.
Med visionär kraft skildrar Elisabeth Spear det farofyllda livet på Jesu tid. Det är en skildring full av skönhet och full av spänning."

Set in Roman occupied Palestine, this is the story of eighteen year old Daniel bar Jamin, a Jew.

I am split so many ways on this... As a depiction of life in Jesus' time, it's fascinating. As a kids' book, it's well-written but doesn't captivate me. As a Christian book - the protagonist is one of Jesus' followers, to some extent - it's also fascinating; why follow this one among all the other choices? The use of Samson is annoying - we never find out how much he understood or really anything about him, he's just (eventually) convenient muscle, and extra guilt for Daniel. Like most kids' books, there are an awful lot of convenient people and events, popping up at just the right time and place so the protagonist can make the right choices (this is why I say it doesn't captivate me). But it was most definitely worth reading (probably would be more worth reading if I were younger), might be worth rereading in a few years. ( )

Newbery Medal 1962. Daniel is seeking revenge on the Romans for crucifying his father. He must return home to care for his mentally ill sister, but is still active in the resistance. Meeting Jesus opens his eyes to the power of love and forgiveness. ( )

I actually started this book several months ago and put it down to read something else before I had finished the first few chapters. Since I am determined to make it through the Newbery list, I knew it had to be read. I'm glad I picked it back up as it ended up being quite a good book. I was impressed how Elizabeth George Speare wrote the book with religious undertones without being an overly religious book. This keeps the novel readable for anyone regardless of faith. The look into the day to day life of the characters in the time was very interesting. I'm not sure I had read a book in this setting before and enjoyed it. Overall, I was greatly impressed with this work. ( )