Outcast (Paperback)

~ (Author), Richard Kennedy (Illustrator) "THE gale, which had lulled for a little while, came swooping back with a shriek and a beating as of great wings against the village..." (more)
Key Phrases: Lady Lucilla, Publius Piso, Ben Malachi (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A Roman boy is brought up by a British tribe and forced to make his way in a hostile climate in this epic yarn set in Roman Britain. Ages 10-up.

Copyright 1995 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

"How Beric survived...is not only incredible but gripping, convincing fiction." --The Horn Book
-- Review

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Paperback: 40 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) (October 30, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374456739
• ISBN-13: 978-0374456733
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #236,340 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #56 in	Books > History > Europe > England > Ancient
  #83 in	Books > Children's Books > History & Historical Fiction > Fiction > Ancient Civilizations

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rosemary Sutcliff has done it again!, March 28, 2000

By A Customer

Once again, Rosemary Sutcliff has written an outstanding work of fiction! Enticing, suspensful, and all-around wonderful, Outcast is the best book I have read in a long time. Outcast is the story of a young boy named Beric, who is raised in the village of a celtic tribe living in Britain at the time of the Roman Conquest. However, Beric is actually a Roman child, whose parents died in a shipwreck and who was rescued by a kind-hearted Celt and then adopted. But when the village has a series of bad turns, the local druid manages to convince the chief that Beric is the cause of all the trouble. Exiled from the only life he has known, Beric must learn to survive in the harsh Roman world that is so different from his own. And things take a turn for the worse when Beric falls into the hands of a slave trader! Outcast is a refreshing historical novel that gives startling insight into the ancient cultures of Britain. This one is definately a keeper!

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beric must begin his life as an outcast..., June 6, 2002

A Kid's Review

"Outcast" is an excellent literary composition that tells the tale of Beric, who is branded as cursed by a druid since he was in a frightful shipwreck whilst he was only a newborn child, and was the solitary survivior.
So the tribe that have taken in Beric are insistant that the holy beings in which they place their faith are unhappy with them for this, because Beric is a red-crest.
I found parts of the book deeply disturbing and so would reccomend any easily - unsettled reader of my age to be prepared before you read it.
Nevertheless Rosemary Sutcliff vividly describes every needed detail without overbalancing action with description.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Roman British History, April 25, 2001

By	Tina Gardner "joeandtinag" (Stamford, NY USA) - See all my reviews

I really enjoyed this book. I have always been interested in this period of British history. This book is too scary for young children: I would not recommend it for a child less than 10 years of age. The Outcast is a Roman boy, found nearly dead on a beach after a shipwreck, fostered by a Celtic family. He is thrown out of his tribe when a series of misfortunes convinces some in the village that they have offended their gods by harboring a Roman. Going to the Roman village, he is captured by slavers, and a truly horrible four years as a slave begins. The book reveals the Horror That Was Rome, when we have too often heard only of the Glory.