GATEWAY WEEKLY SUPPLEMENT - BOOK REVIEWS - YOUNG ZORRO: THE IRON BRAND

Young Zorro: The Iron Brand by Jan Adkins ~ Book Review

Diego Vega - wasn't that Zorro's name in the movie? I think it was....and yes, this is a novel which cleverly draws upon the connection between a present-day Diego Vega and his ancestor, the illustrious "Zorro" of legendary fame.

An exciting action-adventure story about the childhood of Zorro and his sidekick Bernardo. This novel is based on the character in Isabel Allende’s novel ZORRO – in which she imagines Zorro’s childhood. Zorro is an imaginary character who was invented at the beginning of the twentieth century – half Hispanic and half Native American.

The author Jan Adkins helped Isabel Allende with the research for her novel, which was published in the UK in May 2005. Allende’s name appears on the jacket.

Set in Spanish California at the height of the Napoleonic Wars, the story finds young Diego and his "brother" Bernardo helping Diego's father to find out why craftsmen are going missing from the surrounding villages, and why Don Diego's cattle are being stolen. The adventures of these two fifteen-year-olds brings them into danger with "Blackbirders" - slave traders, in other words, and the cattle thieves themselves.

This is a really colourful and well-crafted adventure in the old style. There's no mention of Zorro in the tale itself, though the introduction by the "author" Diego Vega confirms that he is a descendant of the great man himself. Yet there is little doubt that the young Diego is Zorro and will grow up to become the legendary swashbuckling hero who rights wrongs in old California in much the same way that Robin Hood did it in England in the twelfth century. Older children will love this book - there are the stirrings of puberty, as Diego and Bernardo, mute since his mother's murder, find and court the girls of their dreams, and their bravado in the face of almost overwhelming odds will endear our two heros to just about everyone. Then there is the tomboy Trinidad, the girl who knows the district better than anyone and who takes them to where the captive villagers are being held. All in all it's a slice of history that's a joy to read. Thoroughly enjoyable romp which will especially appeal while the second Zorro movie does the rounds. Harper Collins Children's Books Paperback £5.99