'The Raven Master's Secret'

The novel, The Raven Master's Secret, is a story about a eleven year-old boy named Forest who lives within the mighty walls of the Tower of London. Forest is the son of the raven master and yearns to show his courage and strength to everyone. But when his opportunity arises Forrest has to make a choice. Betray his own country or help save his only friends lives. Will Forest become great and face his destiny or will he cower in fear.

The novel takes place in the Tower of London during early spring of 1735. The ruler at the time was the mighty King George II. The big stone walls at some places fifteen feet thick gave the tower an imposing look. Construction on the Tower began in 1066 but many of the outdated mechanics are still here today. The Tower was most noted as a prison where at the time they kept Scottish rebels who believed James Stuart had the right to the throne. The Tower holds a mint and an armory as well as the crown jewels.

Forrest Harper is an eleven year-old boy in the Tower of London.

He is the son of the raven master and longs for adventure outside the Tower walls. Forrest has a loyal pet raven named Tuck that he is trying to teach to speak. Finch and Whipley are the Tower bullies and they call Forrest names like hare-heart because he is sensitive and kind to others. Forrest yearns to show his courage to everyone but because he is feeding raven and doing chores all day he doesn't have the chance to. Plus the fact that he is short for his age. Part of Forest's job is to bring food to the prisoners in the Bloody Tower. One prisoner gave Forrest an old spyglass that could not be seen out of, But when Forrest looked out of it he always saw

adventure.

Ned White is an orphan living inside the Tower of London. Ned used to be an apprentice to Master Meeks as a rat catcher where he got his nickname "Rat". Master Meeks was a mean man and sold Ned to Simon Frick as a chimney sweep. Being a chimney sweep was extremely dangerous and almost guarantied a early death. Ned and Forrest are good friends because when

Ned worked as a rat catcher he would have to deliver the rats to Forrest so he could feed them to the ravens. Ned surprisingly a little shorter then Forrest so he was good for getting into small rooms to catch rats. Ned shared the same imagination as Forrest and draws on the walls with him.

Maddy Stewart is the daughter of Owen Stewart, a Scottish rebel. Maddy, her father and her uncle are all being held as prisoners in the Tower for treason. They are all to be put on trail and if found guilty be executed but Maddy's father and uncle die in a escape attempt. Maddy has blue eyes and blond hair and loves to sing with her beautiful voice. Maddy becomes friends with Forrest because he has to bring her food every day. Maddy is very fascinated with Forrest's pet raven, Tuck and is very loyal to her homeland in Scotland. Forest believes she is a rebel come to put King George out of the throne but Maddy says she did nothing wrong.

Simon Frick is the Tower's the chimney sweep. Simon is a tall, skinny, ruthless man with boney fingers that directs his little chimney sweepers. People at the chimney sweep were just children that were small enough to clean the chimneys. Nobody liked Simon and Forrest's father often told him to stay away from him. Simon gets ahold of Ned for a fair price and puts him to work right away. He warns all his sweepers that if they run away he will find them and kill them. The only way to get out of Simon Frick's chimney is to pay for your freedom. When Ned tries to buy his way out he finds that Simon Frick is worse then he thought.

The story begins as eleven year-old Forrest Harper's stomach churns at the the sight of a highway man being hanged. The Tower bullies Fitch and Whipley insult Forrest and call him names like hare-heart because he can't even watch a hanging. Forest longs to show his courage and bravery so that people would acknowledge him. Forrest yearns to go outside the Tower walls but knows he would never make it out. He is the son of the raven master so his job is to take care

and feed the ravens. Forrest has one raven he likes in general and his name is Tuck. Tuck is still young so he doesn't have his wings clipped and can fly and do tricks.

Forrest has one friend named Ned. Ned is a rat catcher for the tower so Forrest just calls him Rat. Rat and Forrest are both small for their age and have wild imaginations. They draw battles on the wall and both see adventures through a foggy spyglass. Rat is an apprentice to Master Meeks and he is very cruel. One day Simon Frick comes around and says that Rat may become a chimney sweep. Nobody wanted to be a chimney sweep. It was the worst of all jobs and could get you killed.

That day Forrest learned that the king had captured three Scottish rebels and were bringing them to the tower. There were rumors that all the Scottish people were giants and foamed from the mouth. Forrest was looking forward to keeping an eye on one of them and bring them food because then surely Finch and Whipley would not call him hare-heart. Forrest is very upset when he finds out his prisoner is a girl. Now the bullies just made fun of him even more. When Forrest and Rat go to bring The prisoner her food they heard a very sad song being sung by her. When they get up to the cell tuck flies right up to the prisoner and imminently finds a liking for her. They continue to give her food to her then leave.

Forrest continued his days like normal and always brought food to his prisoner. One day it was bitterly cold and when Forrest got to her cell she was tucked in a corner. He shows her how to get a fire going and they start talking. The prisoner says her name is Maddy and Forrest told her his. Many days later Maddy made a deal with Forrest. If he gave a good luck charm to her father then she would give Forrest a valuable ring. The ring was very important to Maddy because it was her mothers and it said face your destiny. It was very important to Forrest as well

because Ned recently got sold to the chimney Sweep and he needed to pay his indenture to get him out.

Forrest hears that Maddy and her uncle and Father are all going to be executed and the thought of it makes his stomach churn. He has all ready betrayed his country by trading items between prisoners and giving prisoners extra food. When Maddy's father and uncle both die in a escape attempt Forrest thinks that Maddy's luck has run out and she would surely die. To make madders worse Forrest had dropped the ring and lost it. The next day when Forrest was feeding the ravens a man appeared to him and gave offered him a bag of gold if he would help with Maddy's escape. Forrest knew he had to get Ned out so he accepted.

It turned out Ned was in the shack the whole time Forrest was talking with the man because he had run away from the sweep. So Forrest just left the gold with him and left. Simon Frick was very good and finding escapees so when he found Ned with the gold he was quite happy. Being the cruel man he was he took the gold from Ned and carried him back to the sweep. Forrest had the plan for Maddy's escape glued in his mind, But when none of the Scots came as planed he planed to do it all himself. Ned had escaped once again and decided that he would switch clothes with Maddy and pretend to be her and Maddy him. Forrest got Maddy out then went back in and got Ned out.

A Scot finds them and tells them to meet him by the dock because they would escape by boat. When they were on their way over there Simon Frick caught up to them. He comes to get Ned back to the sweep and teach him a lesson. When he starts off with Ned Tuck comes swooping down and scratching Simon. So hard that Simon falls over upon his own knife and dies. Forrest, Maddy, and Ned make it to the boat and the Scots offer Ned and Forrest a life in

Scotland. Ned accepts right away but Forrest was caught off guard, But knows he has to many loved ones at the tower and can not go. He says his good byes and hands Ned the spyglass.

The turning point of the story is when Forrest decides to help with Maddy's escape. After he decides to help the story really picks up. Forrest knows he will be betraying his country but he can't let Maddy die. Another reason is that he needed to buy out Ned's indenture. Forrest makes plans with Scottish rebels to get Maddy out. The plan was for the Scots to get Maddy out hours before Forrest came, but when he did Maddy was still there. Forrest improvised and switched Maddy and Ned so Maddy could get out looking like Ned. Once they're out they maake their way to a boat the scots have prepared for them. When they get there Simon Frick catches up to them but he ends up falling on his own knife. This escape attempt was risky for everyone. Ned could have been killed by Simon Frick, Forrest could have been caught helping a traitor, and Maddy could have been noticed as a girl and not Ned.

Thirty years later Forrest Harper has a wife and a daughter. His rosy cheeked daughter's name is Maddy in remembrance of his old friend Maddy Stewart. Forrest is now the tower's raven master and still has tuck to keep him company and do tricks. Forrest is walking when a ragged boy comes up to him with a package. The boy says he does not know who it is from. So Forrest comes home to his smiling daughter and cheerful wife to open the package. When they do they find the old spyglass that Forrest gave to Ned when he was leaving and a letter. The letter was from Ned and he tells Forrest how he is now a captain of a ship and how Maddy is living happily in the colonies. When Forrest's daughter tries looking through the spyglass Forrest tells her to look harder and see it in a different way.

I found myself enjoying the novel The Raven Master's Secret. The story starts off a little slow but really picks up at the end. It made me want to go back a read more just to figure out

what would happen next. The exiting parts really do make up for the dull parts. Over all I would say read this book for sure.