The Bronze Bow

The Bronze Bow
By Elizabeth George Speare; Houghton Mifflin Company 1961

Summary: Daniel is a young Jew who has an intense hatred for the Romans. He lives with in an outlaw band in the hills where he works as a blacksmith and as a freedom fighter. When his grandmother dies, he must move to the village to take care of his sister, who hasn’t left the house since their parents died. While living in the village, he works as a blacksmith and secretly starts to recruit members for an uprising against the Romans. He finds the friendship of Joel and Malthace, twins, who make a vow to live and die for God’s Victory. There is miracle worker named Jesus who speaks and helps many people in the villages and Daniel wonders if this teacher may be the leader who will help him in his vengeance.

My Review:
WOW! This is such a well done book. It is in no way a
difficult read. It flows nicely and keeps you on your toes as you follow the life of this incredible boy named Daniel. Daniel is quite serious and determined to continually try to seek vengeance against the Romans. I felt so sorry for him most of the time because he was so full of hate.

Hate Vs. Love is a strong theme in this book. Daniel struggles between the two throughout this entire book.
Now the title of this book plays a part in the story. The bronze bow is a password that Daniel and his gang use to communicate. It is taken from a psalm of David. Hate can try to bend a bow of bronze, but the question is can love do the same thing? (Guess you’ll have to find out!)

The only thing I struggled with was the ending. I felt that it was rushed and it wasn’t the ending I expected at all! I was kind of hoping that there would be more to the story. But alas, it was an appropriate ending I guess. You decide for yourself if you like it or not.

Anyway, I highly recommend this book for all ages. It truly is an excellent read and the story is amazing!

Things To Watch Out For: Revenge, death, killings, religious, mentioning’s of demons, vows, a little racism, romantic tension, Hate, etc…