Rowan and the Travelers by Emily Rodda ★★★★☆

Lessons Learned

Fiction – Juvenile – High Fantasy

192 pages

Age Range: 8 - 12 years

Grade Level: 3 and up

Publication Date:  1994

Rowan of Rin #2

In book two of the series Rowan, must face unknown dangers and save his people from a strange sleeping sickness overcoming the village.  His only help comes from the roaming Travelers, but they may be the very enemy Rowan is looking to defeat.  With time running out and lives in the balance can Rowan unmask the true enemy and save his people before it is too late?

With the same high caliber writing I expected after reading book one, Ms. Rodda effortlessly weaves together a mystery I was eager to see Rowan solve.  To save his family and the other people of Rin from the sleeping sickness Rowan must use the lessons he learned from the journey up the mountain and overcome his own prejudices to overcome the enemy.  And while there is always plenty of action like the first one, Ms. Rodda’s stories are still really about the characters.  Rowan learns and adapts, but still manages to stay true to his real strengths an open loving heart.  While the people of Rin are reminded that even the Travelers live differently than them they are still their allies and each group can learn a lot from the other.