Rakkety Tam: A Tale from Redwall: 17 - Softcover

Jacques, Brian

Softcover

ISBN 10: 014240683X ISBN 13: 9780142406830

Publisher: Firebird, 2006

Synopsis

There has never been a Redwall hero quite like Rakkety Tam, the roguish Highlander squirrel who sets off for Mossflower Wood on a mercenary errand and loses his heart to the charms of Redwall Abbey. And there's never been a villain quite like Gulo the Savage: a vicious beast-eating wolverine who descends upon the Abbey in search of a relic called the Walking Stone. Readers will cheer at the return of the Long Patrol, the antics of a renegade vole thief, and the emergence of a new champion to wield the sword of Martin. As fans of Brian Jacques and Redwall know, the adventures just keep getting bigger and bigger.

About this title

Review:

Praise for the Redwall series

"Brian Jacques has the true fantasy writer's ability to create a wholly new and believable world." -School Library Journal

"The medieval world of Redwall Abbey--where gallant mouse warriors triumph over evil invaders--has truly become the stuff of legend." -Seattle Post-Intelligencer

"A grand adventure story. Once the reader is hooked, there is no peace until the final page." -Chicago Sun-Times

"Jacques's effortless, fast-paced narrative gets its readers quickly hooked. He clearly loves this other world he has created--there's a genius sense of involvement and care (lots of lovingly descriptive passages), as well as an overflowing, driving imagination." -Birmingham Post

"Redwall is both an incredible and ingratiating place, one to which readers will doubtless cheerfully return." -New York Times Book Review

"An excellent adventure with an enlightened conscience. Brilliantly complex. With vibrant and distinct animal characters, Jacques's classically inspired plot-weaving achieves virtuosity." -Publishers Weekly

"Only a churl would reject this morality play in fur." -Kirkus Reviews

"Filled with the kind of vibrant storytelling that fans of Jacques have come to expect. His dialogue is lively and delightful to read aloud...so rich in detail that the sights and sounds and smells of the adventure pull the reader in." -Grand Rapids Press (MI)

"A richly imagined world in which bloody battles vie for attention with copious feasting and tender romancing. Where males and females are heroes and warriors. Where the young triumph and the old endure. Where intelligence is as valued as strength and wit is frequently more important than size...[Jacques] continues to surprise and delight with intriguing plots and fresh faces." -Cincinnati Enquirer

"The Knights of the Round Table with paws." -The Sunday Times (London)

About the Author:

Brian Jacques was born in Liverpool, England on June 15th, 1939. Along with forty percent of the population of Liverpool, his ancestral roots are in Ireland. A well-known radio personality in his native Liverpool--as well as an actor, stand-up comic, and playwright--Brian was the host of "Jakestown" on BBC Radio Merseyside. Ever the performer, Jacques applied his acting and entertainment background to his lively presentations to legions of young fans at schools across the United States and England.

His interest in adventure stories began at an early age with reading the books of: Daniel Defoe, Sir Henry Rider Haggard, Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Thomas Malory, Robert Michael Ballantyne, Robert Louis Stevenson, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and Kenneth Grahame. He attended St. John's School, an inner city school that had its playground on the roof. On his first day at St. John's, at the age of ten, he had an experience that marked his potential as a writer. When given an assignment of writing a story about animals, he wrote about the bird that cleaned a crocodile's teeth. The teacher could not, and would not, believe that a ten year old could write that well. When young Brian refused to falsely say that he had copied the story, he was caned as "a liar." He had always loved to write, but it was only then, that he realized that he had a talent for writing.

Some teachers at St. John's proved to be good role models. This interest in poetry extended to Wordsworth, Tennyson, and Goldsmith. It was also at St. John's that Brian met a teacher, Alan Durband (who also taught two Beatles, Paul McCartney and George Harrison), who, more than thirty years later would bring about a major change in his life.

After Brian finished school at fifteen, he set out to find adventure as a merchant seaman. He travelled to many far away ports, including New York, Valparaiso, San Francisco, and Yokohama. Tiring of the lonely life of a sailor, he returned to Liverpool where he worked as a railway fireman, a longshoreman, a long-distance truck driver, a bus driver, a boxer, a bobby (Police Constable 216D), a postmaster, and a stand-up comic.

Penguin mourns the passing of celebrated children's book author Brian Jacques

About this edition

• Publisher: Firebird
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 014240683X
• ISBN 13: 9780142406830
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 384