Product Description

Bravest heart will carry on when sleep is death, and hope is gone.

Rowan doesn't believe he has a brave heart. But when the river that supports his village of Rin runs dry, he must join a dangerous journey to its source in the forbidden Mountain. To save Rin, Rowan and his companions must conquer not only the Mountain's many tricks, but also the fierce dragon that lives at its peak.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #346622 in Books
• Published on: 2004-02
• Released on: 2004-02-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

From School Library Journal
Grade 4-6-The people of Rin are strong and brave, except for young Rowan. He spends his time caring for the bukshah, the gentle beasts that the villagers depend on for their survival. When their stream suddenly stops flowing and the bukshah are in danger of dying, six of the strongest, bravest villagers decide to climb the Mountain, hoping to avoid the Dragon that lives there, to find out what has happened. However, Sheba the Wise Woman is the only one who knows the way, and she has decided that Rowan must accompany the party, so she gives them a magic map that can only be read if he is holding it. Rowan starts off as fragile and a little whiny, but improves steadily, especially as he begins to realize that he plays an important role in the expedition. He is able to succeed through his own efforts, not through magic. The adults are one-dimensional at first, but as Rowan learns more about them, so do readers, and two of them prove to have unexpected depth. Traditional fantasy elements and setting are presented in a fast-moving and enjoyable tale that should be an easy sell to fantasy lovers.
Mara Alpert, Los Angeles Public Library
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Gr. 3-6. Rodda's new fantasy-adventure series (three other titles are to follow within a year) introduces the people of Rin, who live in the shadow of the Mountain ruled by a fierce but unseen dragon. When the community's water source suddenly dries up, and the dragon ceases his daily roars, some of the bravest villagers prepare to travel up the Mountain to investigate the problem. Young Rowan, a herder who fears he will never be as brave as his late father, must accompany the group because only he can make the magical map reveal its necessary clues. One by one, each strong adventurer confronts his own greatest fears and turns back, leaving only Rowan to deal with the fire-breathing dragon on the summit. Readers would have been satisfied had they simply been given an exciting adventure story. But this talented Australian writer has also given them a fully conceived fantasy world complete with its own flora and fauna, a well-developed back story, and fascinating characters. This tightly plotted mystery sprinkled with clever rhyming clues is somewhat reminiscent of Tom McGowen's the Magician's Apprentice series (1987), and it should be popular with young readers everywhere. Kay Weisman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
This tightly plotted mystery sprinkled with clever rhyming clues should be popular with young readers everywhere. -- ALA Booklist (starred review)

This tightly plotted mystery sprinkled with clever rhyming clues should be popular with young readers everywhere.(ALA Booklist (starred review) ) -- i

“This tightly plotted mystery sprinkled with clever rhyming clues should be popular with young readers everywhere.” -- ALA Booklist (starred review)

Customer Reviews

Rowan of Rin Is Wonderful
I bought this book for my 11 year old son. When he had to do a book report on it and asked me to help him, I decided I'd better read it myself to know what happens in the book. I almost couldn't put it down. I stayed up until 2:00 am to finish it. I loved the riddles and how they had to figure them out to continue their quest. I also loved how the tormented child became the HERO of the Village. When all the big tough villagers became to scared or weak to go on, Young Rowan the Keeper of the Bukshah, (because he was too scared to do and thing elso, saved Rin.

Rowan of Rin
I whole-heartedly agree with the parent from NY who's 8-year old son is a voracious reader.....because I have one too! It is so difficult to find quality books for young boys -- but this series is definitely one that you will want to buy. My son first read this series not long after he turned 9. He's now almost 11 and has reread them so many times that the covers are about to fall off. They are suspenseful without being scary....a great first fantasy series for kids. My only thought with regard to the child reviewers who didn't like them.... maybe they were too old for these books.

Charming
Emily Rodda pens a charming tale, apparently the first in a series (as we speak, three of these books are out and a fourth is coming, I think). Her hero Rowan will win over the earnest bullied kids, or the people who once were.

Rowan is the most timid child in the village of Rin, and so he is often teased and bullied by other children. Adults pity him or dislike him for his apparent weakness. He is also is a herder of the bukshah (buffalo-like creatures who provide milk and wool), who are fed by a certain stream coming down from a nearby mountain. And, it is said, a dragon lives at the top of the mountain. One day it's discovered that the mountain stream is drying up. Without it, the bukshah and the village will both die. They consult old Sheba, a clearsighted wise woman who utters a cryptic rhyme: Seven hearts the journey make/Seven ways the hearts will break/Bravest heart will carry on/When sleep is death and hope is gone...

The village sends six of their strongest, bravest men and woman - and Rowan, who is the only one who can use their map. Coming along is Strong Jonn, half-Traveller Allun, inseparable companions Val and Ellis, Marlie, and Bromden. More prophetic verses crop up in the map, leading the way through dens of enormous spiders, bogs where they hear their loved ones' voices, right to the cold summit of the mountain. But Rowan and his companions will learn some lessons about fear and courage...

Reading this book, one sees so many ways that it could have gone wrong. The adults could have remained one-dimensional and snobbish - but they don't, they grow and change as Rowan does. Rowan could have been a little twit - but he wasn't, instead being a thoroughly believable young boy who WANTS to be brave. I liked how he was not bitter about being pitied or teased by the others, but merely needed a chance to prove himself.

This is probably too "young" a book for most 9-12 readers, as the inside flap describes it as 7-up. But despite being a very straightforward story of about 150 pages, it's also tightly plotted and well-interspersed with fantasy elements, though not too many. Rodda's descriptive style ranges from poetic to sparse, and she includes hints of the the adventures to come.

On to read "Rowan and the Travellers." I'm sure it won't disappoint.