The Outcasts

By John Flanagan
Puffin Books
2011
434 pages
Reading Level:  7-8
Young Adult Fiction

In Skandia, boys who are almost sixteen-years-old go into Brotherbancd training, which is a coming of age ritual in this warrior society.  Hal is different from most Skandians as he is an inventor and a thinker.  He is also an outcast as he is half-Skandian.  His father died when he was a baby, so he has been raised with his mother and a former drunk, Thorn, who was his father's best friend.  The Brotherband that Hal ends up in has eight other outcast boys, and the boys select Hal to be their skirl (captain).  They are outnumbered as the other two Brotherbands have ten members on each team, and there are several tests on strength, discipline, endurance, and knowledge that they need to complete in order to win the trianing for the year.

I would rate this book as good.  I like the Scandinavian flavor that this book contains as it offers a cultural perspective, and it has a lot of knowledge about sailing in it.  The themes that the book addresses are friendship, loyalty, and integrity.  I think that I would use this book as as a choice in a literature circle or reader's workshop in the classroom.