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| Hal's boat, Heron |
Brotherband: The Outcasts, by John Flanagan, is about a Skandian boy named Hal Mikkelson. Hal lives in a country that values physical strength over intelligence. Hal is often bullied at school because his dead father was a strong Skandian warrior, but he doesn't use his physical strength. On top of that, his mother used to be a slave until his father set her free. The story starts off with Hal testing the new boat he designed, that had a triangular sail instead of a square one like all the other Skandian ships. He named the boat Heron because of the way it sailed like a bird. He had to put his ship away for a while because Brotherband training would soon be underway. When the choosing of the Brotherbands started, Hal and seven other boys were rejected from the other leaders' teams. Tursgud, one of the team leaders, had been Hal's main bully at school. They soon formed a Brotherband called the Herons, after Hal's boat. The first assessment was the Mountain Run, and even though Rollond and Tursgud came in before the Heron team, the Herons won it anyways because it was a team assessment, not individual. Soon Hal knew what it was like to be the "skirl" (captain) of his team. Hal made sure he utilized his whole team, not just doing all the assessments himself, like Rollond and Tursgud. The second to last assessment was the night attack, a bit like capture the flag in nighttime. To make it possible for the Herons to win the Brotherband training, they would have to tie in this assessment. They did. The last assessment was the navigation test and the Herons were doing very well, but then, Tursgud's ship was right behind them and it became a crazy race to get back, but the Herons crossed the finish line first. The Herons won the Brotherband training! As a reward, the Herons got to guard the Andomal, Skandia's most prized object, for a night. But everything went wrong and the Andomal was stolen, and the Herons had to go on a mission to get the Andomal back and prove that they were rightful Skandians.
I think the theme in this book is to always stick together. My first example of this is when the Brotherbands have the test of mountain running, and the Herons decide to run together. "'We're all running, sir. We'll do it as a team'" (229). My second example of this is when the Herons are trying to complete the obstacle course and Ingvar is falling behind but the Herons all stick with him to help. "'We've got to, Stig. It's the only way. And every team member has to complete every obstacle'" (287). My third and final example of this is when the Herons are getting ready to go steal the Andomal back and Ingvar says, "'Put it this way, Edvin. We never had any chance of beating the Wolves and the Sharks. But we did. Because we're the Heron Brotherband. And we can do anything we set our minds to'" (426). So those are my reasons for why I think that the theme of this book is that you always have to stick together.
I would totally recommend this book to other 7th grade readers! It gives a wonderful sense of adventure with each page you turn. I really like how Mr. Flanagan makes you want to read more, and to want to finish the book. Also, I like how the book is set in a fictional place, Skandia, which is based off of a real place, Scandinavia. Overall this was a great book.
