A girl on the run after being accused of killing Robin Hood learns what it really means to be a hero in this exciting adventure story. “That’s the girl who killed Robin Hood!” Those words send Ellie Dray racing for the forest and the chance to clear her name. Twelve-year-old novice nun Elinor Dray has always idolized Robin Hood. She and her friends try to be like him by sneaking out to hunt on the lands belonging to the village Baron, stealing from him to feed their poor neighbors. They call themselves the League of Archers. While returning from a hunting trip late one night, Ellie meets a man in the forest—a hunter like herself. But suddenly the man is shot with a poisoned arrow. She manages to help him back to the abbey, but it’s too late and he dies. Only in his final moments, does Ellie realize that the hunter is Robin Hood, and that the abbess of the nunnery is Maid Marian. With her secret revealed, the Baron immediately arrests Marian. But he needs a scapegoat for the murder of Robin Hood, and who better than a young novice nun? Ellie is proclaimed a hero—the person who killed the famous outlaw Robin Hood—but the villagers don’t agree. A mob forms, vowing to hunt Ellie down and exact their own vengeance. Will Ellie and her League of Archers be able to find the real killer, free Maid Marian, and keep Robin Hood’s legacy alive? Gr 5–7—Sent to live in a nunnery after her mother's death, 12-year-old Ellie spends her days as a novice nun and her evenings hunting in the woods with her friends—known among themselves as the League of Archers. Like their heroes, Robin Hood and his Merry Men, they hunt in secret on the villainous Baron's land in order to feed those in need. One night, Ellie encounters a mysterious man in the woods who is shot by a poisonous arrow. She brings him back to the nunnery only to discover that he is Robin Hood and the kind abbess of the nunnery is Maid Marion. What follows are a chain of events in which Ellie is publicly blamed for the death of Robin Hood. Friendships are tested as Ellie and her loyal League of Archers work in secret to uncover the mystery of Robin Hood's death and convince the village of her innocence. Readers will thrill at the nonstop action and adventure of this engaging tale. The familiar settings of Sherwood Forest and Nottingham add an extra level of interest for fans of the original story and Disney movie. Howard has created a thoughtful and likable character in Ellie, who is forced to reconsider her rosy image of Robin Hood as an unblemished hero. Despite the youth of her main characters, Howard doesn't shy away from the harsh reality of death, danger, and cruelty: Ellie's mother is hanged for hunting on the Baron's land, Robin Hood's dead and rotting body is dragged around for display, and Ellie herself struggles with guilt and confusion when she kills a man with an arrow during a fight. VERDICT A deep and satisfying series opener; recommended for upper-middle grade and middle school readers.—Kristy Pasquariello, Wellesley Free Library, MA This book doesn't shy away from deep moral dilemmas often unexplored in middle-grade novels and important to acknowledge in a story with life-or-death stakes. . . this generally well-paced post-legend take on the Robin Hood myth will captivate action and adventure fans and lovers of historical fiction alike ― Kirkus Reviews A deep and satisfying series opener ― School Library Journal Ellie and her League are a likable troupe who rise above the stereotype of plucky urchins and learn to make tough choices about loyalty and honor. This is a highly enjoyable adventure story that should appeal to a wide range of readers. — Kara Dean -- Booklist ― October 15, 2016 This action-packed novel combines well known characters with a new cast to create a fun, fast paced story of friendship and inner as well as outer conflict. The characters are well developed and realistically portrayed, flaws and all. ― School Library Connection March/April Eva Howard is the author of League of Archers . When she’s not writing, Eva escapes the city to hike and camp in the forest—and has even tried her hand at archery. She lives in New York. League of Archers 1 ELLIE PRESSED HER BACK AGAINST the abbey wall, feeling the cool of the stone through her habit. The air was stifling, thick with boiling water and hot herbs, as it always was in the hospital wing. Today the scent of garlic and butter mixed unpleasantly with the stench of unwashed bodies and disease. It made Ellie so nauseated she thought she would never eat garlic again. There were eight beds in the hospital, each filled with a figure huddled beneath the blankets. Ellie was beside the table where they kept the medicines—sprigs of nettle and thyme, honey and candle wax, a stack of fresh linen cloths, and a knife resting in a bowl of water, ready for bloodletting. Sister Joan was carefully spooning powders and pastes from various pots and jars into a white ceramic bowl.