Richie's Picks: GIRL IN A CAGE by Jane Yolan and Robert J. Harris,
Philomel/Putnam, September 2002

"It's always the old to lead us to the war
Always the young to fall." --Phil Ochs

A few days ago, I read PARVANA'S JOURNEY by Deborah Ellis. It is an equally
impressive sequel to her acclaimed story, THE BREADWINNER. The heroine of
both those books is a young girl in recent-days Afghanistan, who
conceals herself as a boy in order to survive. PARVANA'S JOURNEY is, in
essence, the story of four parentless children tossed around that war-torn
country like stray puzzle pieces in a young giant's toy chest. For a portion
of the tale, as if this were some bizarre skit by Python or Second City,
Parvana and her young companions provide for themselves by harvesting the
daily goods and various animal parts that become available to them in a
nearby field that had been earlier sown with land mines.

Somalia. Ethiopia. Bosnia. Northern Ireland. Haiti. Gaza...

Through the years the list of exotic places from where we've viewed the young
victims, prisoners and child refugees grows as relentlessly as my middle-aged
waistline.

And so, in this context, I see GIRL IN A CAGE as much more than just a vivid
and entertaining work of historical fiction for young people. (Not that it
doesn't more than merit kudos in that regard.)

GIRL IN A CAGE is a captivating story built upon the fact that at the dawn of
the 14th Century, King Edward I imprisoned Robert Bruce's eleven-year-old
daughter, Marjorie, in a cage while her father waged the guerilla war that in
real life eventually resulted in freedom for Scotland and the rise of the
Stuart dynasty.

"Dear Lord, if it is not too much to ask, could you please send less wind and
fewer turnips?
"The wind rattles the iron bars of my cage making me shake like an old man at
his prayers.
"As for the turnips, the good folk of Lanercost should rather eat them than
throw them at me. It would be better for all our souls.
"If Father is ever king in more than name, I shall remember those turnips.
"And the people who threw them."

Marjorie Bruce (or de Brus) is a princess wannabe who will appeal to young
readers who have outgrown those other stories and journals of various
princesses and pretenders of olden times or modern days. This story
alternates between Marjorie's days of imprisonment and the events leading up
to her capture.

A tale in which a medieval king holds his opponent's young daughter hostage
seems to me fittingly symbolic for today's ongoing cycle of atrocities in
which old men continue to sacrifice the welfare of future generations in
exchange for revenge, oil, ego, and religion (the latter being,
unfortunately, as new a concept as the Crusades of Longshanks' era).

But the highlight of this tale is the battle of wills between Edward, the
aged king who keeps raising the stakes in an attempt to compel her loyalty,
and Marjorie, the "Playhouse Princess" whose determination to be true to
herself and her father results in her transformation and, as the authors may
intend us to conclude, changes the course of history:

" 'You think perhaps your father will rescue you? You think that he is
free?' Longshanks scoffed.
"I go cold. Has he come then to tell me Father has been captured? Without
meaning to, I lean toward him.
" 'He is no more free than you are. The sea bounds him on three sides while
I hold the fourth. Scotland is not his kingdom but his cage.' "
"Not captured then. I lean back, away from him. Whatever else he has to
tell me, it is not what I most fear. I can bear anything if Father is still
free.
" 'Speak, damn you,' he says.
"I think about what I will say if I choose to speak. I think about it for a
long time. I choose my words carefully. I go over them again and again in
my head.
"Just as Longshanks is gathering himself to stand, I finally open my mouth.
" 'If Father's kingdom is a cage, then my cage will be a kingdom,' I declare.
'It is not I who am locked in, but you who are locked out.'
"Edward smirks. He has made me speak. He thinks he has won. 'What
nonsense. You are a vexatious child.'

"But I know that my words have wounded him."

Richie Partington
http://richiespicks.com
BudNotBuddy at aol.com ( )

Girl in a Cage is historical fiction of a very fine kind. I remember the first time I read Johnny Tremain; I was so much a part of the story that I felt like I was Johnny (despite the gender difference). I was proud, I despaired, I hoped. I really freaked out my teacher as I sobbed at the back of the class because my future as a silversmith was lost. Girl in a Cage was like that for me.

Marjorie Bruce is the king's daughter. The problem is that not all of Scotland acknowledges her father as king and King Edward of England certainly sees Robert Bruce as a traitor and pretneder to the throne. As Robert Bruce marshalls his small but determined band of supporters, King Edward sets upon Bruce's family and captures Marjorie, her stepmother, and Aunts. Marjorie is separated and kept in a cage in a small village in England. This is not how she expected Princess life to be. Edward visits her to taunt her and villagers throw food and rocks at her. 11 year old MArjorie is very human and swings from worrying about her Father and stepmother to fretting about her lack of beautiful clothing (and warmth, food, and privacy). She determines that the Princessy thing to do will be to defy King Edward until one of them is dead.

This book makes clear the complicated way that Scotland and England were intertwined. I also recommend The Queen's Own Fool.

Not too bad - historical fiction for teens that imagines what Marjorie Bruce, daughter of Scottish King Robert Bruce, would have been thinking during the early portion of her imprisonment in a cage by Longshanks. The memoir format is very popular in historical fiction, and I think some teens respond well to a less formal approach to the narrative. ( )