The Long Patrol

By Brian Jacques

Review by Jack

The opening paragraph grabs the reader’s attention.

·Put reader right into the action

·Make reader imagine the unimaginable (ie. It’s not everyday that a 13 year old girl is accused of murder…)

·Don’t start with “the book I read was…” That’s way too BORING! Hook us into the plot!

Damug Warfang, Leader of the Rapscallions, will take over Redwall no matter what it takes. He defeats his brother and leads the Rapscallions on land to steal and plunder Mossflower. The Long Patrol, a group of warrior hares, decides to gather an army to stop them.

The title and author are worked in naturally

·Don’t say, “My book was The Giver” when you can say, “Jonas, a twelve year old boy and the main character of Lois Lowry’s Newbery Award winning novel The Giver, must make decisions that impact his entire society.”

Tammo, the main character of Brian Jacques novel The Long Patrol, must help the hares to destroy the Rapscallions. His father doesn’t want him to join them, so Tammo runs away with Russa Nodrey the squirrel. The Patrol needs to keep the Rapscallions away from Redwall, so they send Tammo and Midge Manycoats the hare in disguise to convince them to travel in a different direction. Meanwhile, the badger lord Lady Cregga Rose Eyes also wants to destroy the Rapscallions, and gathers the hares (not the Long Patrol) to fight them.

The overall idea and plot are discussed, without giving away the ending

·Keep it short and sweet, even if it’s a long book

·Just give the reader the gist of the book. Be clear, make sense, don’t give away the ending

Describe one exciting incident in detail

·Again, don’t give away the ending

·Be clear enough so that someone who HAS NOT read the book can follow

One exciting part of the book is when the Redwallers who live at Redwall investigate why the South Wall is destroyed, they find a giant hole. A young Redwaller falls into the hole, and an eel attacks her. Skipper the otter jumps in the pit to save her and there is a brawl between the eel and otter, which is exciting.

End the review with your opinion and recommendation

·Who might like this type of book? (Sports fans? People that love to laugh? History buffs? Late night readers that like to be freaked out?

·What did you think? Is it worth reading? If it won an award, is it worth the hype?

I think someone who likes to read fantasy books would enjoy this book. If you do decide to read this book, you should read the series in order or you would get very confused, because this is the 10^th book in the series.