Emily's review
This tells the story of Ada who is 12. She is the cook’s daughter and works as a laundress at Caerlaverock castle in Scotland.

She is in danger when the King of England attacks the castle with 3000 men. There are only 60 men to fight back! Ada has to survive this and the attention of the castle commander who suspects her of helping a prisoner.

I learnt about life in the Middle Ages and some historical vocabulary from this book. The plot is well structured. It wasn’t my favourite but I would recommend it to readers who like action stories.

Matthew's review
The book tells the story of a 12-year-old girl named Ada, who lives in a castle. The castle comes under attack by the King of England and they have very few people to protect them.

The book is very descriptive, interesting and fast-paced. Each chapter ends in an exciting way, which makes you want to read more.

However, some of the words were old fashioned and difficult to understand.

My favourite part of the book was when Lady Maxwell had to take charge and make some very tough decisions. Lady Maxwell is also my favourite character in the book. This is because she was brave and her difficult decisions helped save the lives of all the people.

I believe that this book is suitable for children aged 10 to 12 years old.

Overall, I would rate this book as 4.5 out of 5.

Liana's review
The main character Ada is a likeable bias character. They are in cave rock and it’s Scotland 1300AD and there is lots of war and fighting. She doesn’t know what’s going to confront her. The cruel general (who doesn’t like her) made me feel angry and shocked and I really wanted to be in the story to tell Ada to prepare and protect herself and her family from the general’s upcoming murders. I recommend to children aged 10 – 18 because it contains lots of violence.

I would give this book 10/10 because it gave pictures in my head and gave strong vocabulary. It took me about 2 weeks to read because I wanted to memorise the features. It introduced me to a new period of History and I think it might have been a real true story that has not been discovered before.

Nikos's review
I did not fully enjoy this book because it did not have enough action but it got more interesting in the middle and it has a good ending. My favourite character was Godfrey. He is a page boy and he is a similar age to me. I thought it was interesting that he had to work and leave his parents at such a young age. De Berclay the baddie is evil and scary. I learnt about how the castle at Caerlaverock went through dramatic events in the 13th century. I liked this period of history because it was interesting to learn about battles and how people lived in castles. I learnt quite a few new words from the book such as bartering and hose, which meant trousers back then. Also, there is a glossary at the back of the book which is very helpful for a fiction book like this. Other useful extras include maps of the castle and a timeline of the Scottish Wars of Independence. I would recommend this book to other pupils who are interested in history and castles.

Amelia's review
This book will read your mind. This book contains wars and the prisoner has a very evil trick up his sleeve, a war kept going every day and it never stopped.

There was a girl called Ada and she was very brave. There was a boy that couldn’t talk to anyone. 

It was OK and the reason I didn’t like it was because the language was tricky. Other than that it was OK. 

The main characters are Ada, De BercLay, prisoner Quire, Godfrey king and Bryan. My Favourite Character is Ada cos she’s brave like me.

Taz's review
This book is based on true events in Scotland, in 1300, where the Siege of Caerlaverock takes place. The story is told by Ada, a 12 year old laundress at the castle. One day, at the market, she hears a messenger announce that Edward Longshanks is making war on the border. Ada has the tough job of returning to the castle to break the news.

Ada is a daring character. Her father is the cook at the castle, she steals food from the kitchen to feed one of the prisoners. Ada makes friends with an 8 year old page boy. Together, they have to try to survive the war and uncover traitorous plots.

The author is good at describing the taste and smells of life in the castle. I felt as though I was there with Ada. It is quite a challenging read because Barbara Henderson uses historical language like, “thus.” The plot is interesting but I would have liked to have been introduced to some of the characters more clearly. There are a lot of characters and that was sometimes confusing.

I learnt a lot from the book though, including historical words. I would recommend it to people who like learning about the middle Ages.

Leah's review
My favourite character in this book is Mary because she is very caring and a good character. I didn’t like Graham because he dreams of people dying and he wants to take over the country.

I learnt that people travelled by horse and on foot in 1300. There were lots of castles and jewellery then, and communities fought all the time. There was war between towns and communities all the time, just so someone could get power. Life was very violent then; far more violent than it is now.

The time this book is set in is very interesting. There is always something going on and there are lots of adventures. I learnt lots of things about life in 1300. People had to hunt for their own food and they had to make their own weapons. They made use of things they found. The thing that really stood out for me was when they found some scrap metal in the road and then made it into swords. 

Occasionally, there was a little too much violence. I loved all the adventure, but sometimes it was a bit much. I would definitely recommend the book to everyone over 10, and to adults too. It’s probably a little violent for younger kids.

Isabelle's review
This is a challenging read based on a true story. I wasn’t sure about some of the words. Luckily, there is a glossary at the end of the book.

Set in Scotland in the year 1300, the story is about a twelve year old girl, Ada, a simple laundress.  The king of England crosses the border with a massive army to attack Caerlaverock Castle. Ada and the rest of the castle are in danger.

The interesting plot has lots of twists but having to look things up in the glossary all the time, spoilt the pace of the story for me.

Eliza's review
This book will fill your mind. I found it ineresting because a 3000 strong army came to fight with the other army.

I didn’t like this book because it was a litlte bad. The part which I didn’t like was when the arrows flew down on the castle of Caerlaverock.

Favourite character: Ada – she is very kind but very aggressive

Least favourite character: De Berclay – is mean because has an evil eye on Ada. 

I recommend this for 8+ because it’s very frightening for me, I’m not sure about other people.

Ayaan's review

• Did you enjoy the book? Yes. It was exciting to find out who won the war.
• Which of the characters did you find most interesting? Why? Malcolm. He was the leader and the hero.
• Which of the characters (if any) you did not like. Why? The Friar. He wanted to take over the world and be king.
• What made the history or the time it was set in interesting to you?The details about the war. 
• Was the plot exciting, thought-provoking, serious or light-hearted (or any mixture of these)? Serious. The Friar’s team wanted to take over the world.
• What most stands out for you from the book? When the war started. It was exciting to see who was going to win.
• Would you recommend it to other children? Yes. It was very exciting and serious.

Yusuf's review

• Did you enjoy the book? Yes. It was interesting.
• Which of the characters did you find most interesting? Why? Ada. I learnt a lot about her life.
• Which of the characters (if any) you did not like. Why? None.
• What made the history or the time it was set in interesting to you? A lot of cruel stuff happened in that time.
• Was the plot exciting, thought-provoking, serious or light-hearted (or any mixture of these)? Exciting and serious. It had good vocab.
• What most stands out for you from the book? The old names of the characters.
• Would you recommend it to other children? Yes. They would learn lots of facts.
• Did you learn any new words or facts as a result of the story? Yes. Goblet. Nosewise. Embedded. Grudgingly.

Raiyhan's review

• Did you enjoy the book? Yes. It had a unique storyline.
• Which of the characters did you find most interesting? Why? None of the characters stood out more than the other.
• Which of the characters (if any) you did not like. Why? I did not dislike any of the characters.
• What made the history or the time it was set in interesting to you? It was set in 1300.
• Was the plot exciting, thought-provoking, serious or light-hearted (or any mixture of these)? The plot exciting and serious.
• What most stands out for you from the book? The story was based on a real life event.
• Would you recommend it to other children? Yes.

Safwan's review

• Did you enjoy the book? Yes, I enjoyed the book because it was very interesting and full of fights.
• Which of the characters did you find most interesting? Why? Ada, Godfrey and De Berclay. Ada and Godfrey disliked De Berclay.
• Which of the characters (if any) you did not like. Why? De Berclay. He always had evil intentions.
• What made the history or the time it was set in interesting to you? The battles between Scotland and England.
• Was the plot exciting, thought-provoking, serious or light-hearted (or any mixture of these)? The plot was exciting because Ada and Godfrey were doing things they were not supposed to be doing, like giving food to the prisoner.
• What most stands out for you from the book? The battles.
• Would you recommend it to other children? Yes. It is very interesting.
• Did you learn any new words or facts as a result of the story? I learnt the new words chivalry, dirk and feud.

Sulaiman's review

• Did you enjoy the book? Yes. It was about battles.
• Which of the characters did you find most interesting? Why? Sir Walter.
• Which of the characters (if any) you did not like. Why? Godfrey because he did not fight.
• What made the history or the time it was set in interesting to you? The battles.
• Was the plot exciting, thought-provoking, serious or light-hearted (or any mixture of these)? Serious.
• What most stands out for you from the book? The battles.
• Would you recommend it to other children? Yes.